


The Greatest Distance

by KitWolfren



Category: The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2019-10-23 02:56:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 43,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17675117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KitWolfren/pseuds/KitWolfren
Summary: Plot Bunny #59: What happens when the company of Thorin Oakenshield ends up in our world? How will you cope?Adopted from sdavid09 on Tumblr as part of their plot bunny challenge.The company of Thorin Oakenshield falls into a modern world, and meets Piper Morgan and her son Riordan. They must face the challenges of modern life, until they can return to their own world. In the meantime one particular dwarf finds himself falling in love with this modern woman. But will it spell disaster when they must return? By his hat, he will give it his best though!





	1. Down The Rabbit Hole

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know how long this will go.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing besides Piper, Riordan, the modern setting, and any side OCs. I am making nothing from this it is purely for fun.

“How is it possible for people and places to change so entirely that they lose any connection with what they used to be? Can a man adapt to new things and new places without losing a part of himself?”  
—Abdelrahman Munif  
______________________________

“Oi, Nori, put that down!” Dori barked at his brother, his hands still swatting Ori’s away from the stack of foreign books. He felt doubly frazzled, having to keep an eye on his troublesome brothers, on top of all that had happened. 

While that was going on, Bombur had sneaked a peek into a cupboard in the adjacent room, and licked his lips when he spotted a box of brightly colored pastries. 

“Uh-uh!” Bofur interjected, reaching past his brother to shut the cupboard door. “Ye were tol’ t’ leave tha’ alone!” He grumbled, shaking his head. “Ye jus’ ate!” And he waved his hand to the emptied boxes of food on the table. “Eh yeah, what was tha’ called again?” His eyes scanned the crowded room for their hostess, but she and their leader still hadn’t returned yet. Whatever it was, he sure wished he could get the recipe for his brother. Bombur was a master at recreating dishes. 

Meanwhile Fíli and Kíli were pushing one another about beside the hallway mirror, trying on hats from the top of the coat rack. “Here, here, try this one! Haha!” They laughed over each oddly shaped and strangely colored headwear, modeling them in the mirror. 

“No way! It makes my hair stick out weird! You try it!” Fíli pulled the hat his younger brother had crammed onto his head back off and returned the favor, shoving it on top of his brothers darker locks. “Aye, there.”

Oin was seated on the sofa, watching everything going on, only heading half of it. “Bats? Nah, lads no bats in here. Too bright!”

Hearing his brother, Gloin rolled his eyes and went on with his grumbling about their misfortune. “Who doesn’a use gold coin! It’s no’ natural!” Harrumphing again, he crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Don’t trust folk who don’t use good coin!”

Bifur was, of course, the quietest of the bunch. He was sitting to the side of all the commotion, curiously inspecting a little toy, a bright red cart-like gizmo, with a ladder on the back. When he pressed a square button on it, the ladder would shoot out, telescoping out from the back of the cart. He could only see half of the mechanism, and was horribly curious about it. Maybe… maybe if he took it apart, he could see how it worked, and he would most definitely have it fixed up right proper before anyone was the wiser. With a light of glee in his eyes, he went off to fetch his tools from his pack. 

Dwalin, ever the stoic, stood with a scowl on his face, watching all of their company and the antics they were getting up to. He rolled his eyes at more than a few, and kept a sharp watch on a few others. “Nori,” he growled after Dori had left the middle Ri brother to help the younger, “Put that back.”

Nori slipped a little figurine back onto the shelf beside him and ducked his head with a sheepish grin. 

Then there was Bilbo. Poor, sweet, horribly discomfited Bilbo Baggins, of the Shire. He had seen this all before, back when he had been the unwitting victim of Dwarvish drop-ins. Of course that was all before, before they had left Middle Earth. 

That very thought sent shivers down to his curly haired toes. They had left Middle Earth. He didn’t even know that was possible. He didn’t even know there were other worlds! Sure, some weird fantasy novels claimed such things, but that was fantasy, not reality! It simply wasn’t possible. No. Not at all. But, try as he might, sitting sullenly on the sofa near Oin, with his hands balled into fists on his lap, staring straight ahead at nothing in particular, he couldn’t deny where they were. Another world. A futuristic world. Everything was so strange, so surreal. Nothing made sense. 

The entire room full jumped when a loud ringing noise sounded out, half of them drawing hidden weapons and looking for the cause. 

Dwalin started at a small rectangular device set upright on the counter, and the shrill ringing coming from it. He reached out cautiously, ignoring a few words of warning sent his way, and picked it up. Quietly, a voice spoke from it. “This is Generations Pediatrics calling, regarding your appointment for Monday, June 5th at. 4:30 pm. Please press one to confirm.” The balded dwarf looked up at the others, seeing a few guest items for him to do something although no one seemed to agree as to what. He recognized the numerical symbols as Westeron numbers, but wasn’t sure what he should do. Obviously the message was not for them, but their hostess. Don’t want to make her miss an appointment. Slowly he reached out and pressed one. The voice spoke again. “Thank you! Please be sure to have your insurance, ID, and medical cards with you. Have a great day.”

“Thanks?” He replied, “You as well…” then there was silence and, under the scrutinizing gaze of his companions, he set the strange device down again. It beeped as he returned it to the stand. Blinking at it, rather owlishly, the tough warrior felt uncertain. This whole place was strange. 

There was a sound outside, a rumbling noise, and wheels crunching on the gravel. Every member of the company looked up, towards the door. Their leader and their hostess were finally returning. 

Bofur piped up then, “I thought they were back an hour ago!” 

“No, that was just another one of them machines goin’ by!” Nori corrected.

A murmuring ran through the group as the door opened, first admitting… a walking pile of bags? This was followed shortly by Thorin Oakenshield, with a small human boy on his hip. He had, in years past, carried both Fili and Kili that way. No longer wearing the regal clothing he had been, he was instead in a blue plaid shirt and a pair of denim trousers. His boots he’d had to keep, but he seemed to fit in much better with this new world. He set the child down, and the boy, a tall lad of four and a half, grabbed onto the back of his mother’s coat.

“Hey, it’s okay, wait love, lemme get this… stuff down…” The woman brought the bags over to the coffee table, setting them all down. “Okay, we got clothes for everyone!” She said, standing up straight and looking at her very unexpected houseguests. Slowly she exhaled, a strand of her hair dancing with her breath. “Right, now, Thorin help me get this sorted out, I’m forgetting who gets what… oh where’s.. Ah, Balin, here’s your coat.” She handed it to the dwarf who came into the room behind herself and Thorin. He was wearing something not dissimilar to Thorin, though his shirt was a deep maroon, not as deep as his own shirt had been, but it wasn’t too unlike it. There was thin stripes of gold colored thread running through it. It was a clean cut button up shirt, that their hostess had remarked to it being similar to what her own grandfather would wear. He had chosen to take that as a compliment, mostly because of her sweet smile as she had briely reminisced. She turned to face the dark haired dwarf again, “I think we got the tags off, but you might wanna check first.”

The modern-dressed dwarf gave a nod, recalling how she had removed certain clipped on papers and adhesive strips from the clothing he now wore, and helped her sort through their purchases. While he did that, he thought back to what had brought them here, to this very strange land.

Gandalf. Of course.

 

“Gandalf!” Thorin’s deep rough voice called out to the wizard who stood some ways from their camp one night. “Where are you going?”

“Hm?” The gray garbed man turned to look at Thorin, “Nowhere. I am… I am going nowhere.” His long wiry eyebrows knit together in consternation. “Which is exactly the problem.”

Frowning at the cryptic words, Thorin approached him. “Is there something wrong?” He kept his piercing blue gaze on the tall man’s face, though he had quickly learned his stare did little to break through to the wizard, as it did on most other people. Most.

“Oh, there is something very, very wrong, Master Dwarf, very wrong indeed.” The wizard huffed, tamping his knuckles against his beard, then stroking it as though to calm himself. “This isn’t right… not at all. It doesn’t feel right…” 

“If you’re having second thoughts about this quest, it’s perhaps too late now.” Thorin grumbled, crossing his arms and raising a brow as he wondered what in Mahal’s name the strange man could mean.

“Gandalf?” Another voice piped up from towards the camp. Bilbo was making his way over. “Is everything alright?”

“I’m afraid not, my dear Bilbo. Something has gone terribly wrong, things are not as they should be suddenly. In a way I cannot explain.” He fretted a bit more before he turned to face them. “I need some time to gather my thoughts and sort this out… get some rest, all of you.” 

Wizards, Thought Thorin, I wonder if the world isn’t better off without their kind. He did give the source of this new headache a nod, then turned back to camp. “Bofur, you’re on watch. Let’s turn in.” He cast one last glance at Gandalf, watching him pace a bit to and fro, before he returned to his bedroll, patting Fili’s shoulder as he passed the brothers. “Fili, you can relieve Bofur for second watch. Dwalin will take third.”

Everyone agreed, and aside from Bofur, they all laid down to get some rest, eager to sleep after a very long day on their ponies. 

One of the number, however, could not get to sleep. Even after the dwarves around him were snoring peacefully, or as peaceful as dwarves could snore, for he determined that more than a few of them sounded fierce even in their sleep, Bilbo lay wide awake, until the second night watch was near over. He turned this way and that, but it was to no avail. Sleep simply would not come to him. He rose, silent in the way of hobbits, and walked over to Gandalf, lighting his pipe once he was there beside his friend. “Have you sorted anything out yet?”

Gandalf hummed before answering, “Yes… but I do not like the look of it.” 

“Can you tell me?”

Turning to look down at the hobbit, the wizard pondered briefly if it would do any good. “I suppose I may.” He glanced up, aware that Bofur was near enough to hear them, but he relented that it did not matter. They would all know soon enough. “Some fell magic has changed the flow of time.”

“Uhm.. what?” Bilbo asked in utter confusion. “That… that can’t happen… can it?”

Mirthlessly the wizard laughed quietly, “There is much that can happen that you do not know about, Bilbo Baggins.” He huffed through his beard, shaking his head. “I cannot address this with all of you in tow, however it seems to have fixed itself upon this company.” His lips pressed into a thin line for a moment. “Yes, I know what I must do. However, I think none of you shall like it very much at all. No you shan’t.” 

“Oy wha’s this now?” Bofur had made his way over. “Seems you ought t’ be tellin’ the lads all, hm? Somethin’ comin’ after us, we should know!” He protested, though kept his voice hushed. If it wasn’t something worth waking the others just yet, he didn’t want to be in trouble with everyone. But he was ready to give a good shout, just the same. 

Turning to look at the hatted dwarf, Gandalf arched a brow at his bold statements. “It will become all too clear in short order, however you are right, I should address this issue immediately. Rouse the others!” Waving the dwarf off, he looked at Bilbo, brows slowly lifting, “It seems you are going on a grander adventure than I first believed.”

“I’m what now?” Bilbo sputtered, but the dwarves were waking at Bofur’s calls, and he could only watch in unsettled dismay as Gandalf left him to return to the camp. He huffed and stomped his foot in vain, missing his armchair and books very much in that moment. He just wanted to sit down on a soft cushion with a good book, and forget this nonsense! Too late for that. He hurried back when he heard Thorin begin to shout.

“What is the meaning of this!?” The dwarven king rose, still gripping his weapon. “Why do you wake us, Bofur? There is no attack!” 

“Because I told him to.” Gandalf said, in his loudest shout, full of exasperation, sparing Bofur from the short tempered Oakenshield’s anger. He stood fast as those sharp blue eyes turned upon him instead. “You must all be prepared, immediately!”

“Prepared for what?” Ori asked, still half asleep and confused.

Dori shushed him, setting a hand on Ori’s shoulder, “Quiet now!” His attention, like that of all the others, was fully on Gandalf then.

Gandalf sighed, wishing he could explain this better, but with little knowledge to the workings of things beyond their world, it would take much more time than he felt they had. “There has been a shift in the flow of time. Someone does not want this quest to succeed, I fear. Someone beyond my knowledge.” He noted how Thorin’s expression darkened, but continued anyway. Stubborn fool of a dwarf! “It has happened before, though I daresay not for some time, not as you see it anyway. There is no other recourse but to remove you, the lot of you, until it is straightened out.” 

“Remove us!?” A number of dwarves shouted in aghast or angry voices.

“Listen!” Gandalf cried, though it went unheard as all of the company began in uproar. His grip on his staff tightened as he tried to hold his own temper.

“Shazara!” Thorin bellowed, looking at his gathered company as they fell silent around him. “Explain yourself, wizard,” he nearly spat.

Still so very tired of dealing with this temperamental dwarf, Gandalf steadied himself with a sigh, and both hands on his staff. “There is much that I cannot tell you, even more yet that you would not understand, and I fear I have little time to tell you what I may. You will all be removed from this world,” He quickly held up a hand to forestall any interruptions. “Temporarily. Temporarily removed from this world and this timeline. Then you will return here, not mere seconds past the time you depart. How long you will spend in this other realm, I do not know, time does not flow equally. But you will return. So long as you do not die there.” 

“Die?” Bilbo qualied. 

Casting him a sympathetic glance, Gandalf continued. “I will send you somewhere safe. Or rather, relatively safe, so long as you obey the laws of the land, and do not cause a stir.”

Nori suspiciously eyed everyone around him. Them, not cause a stir? They were doomed… He looked across and saw his friend, Bofur, who, judging by his expression, was thinking the same thing.

“It is a place I have been to before,” Gandalf attempted to assure them. “It is a safe place. Though, I cannot guess where exactly you will arrive, or who you shall meet there. But if you keep your heads down and do not draw attention to yourselves, you will be fine.” He told them, mumbling softly under his breath, “I hope.” He knew Bilbo heard him at the concerned look he received. “It is a land very unlike this one, they have progressed to a point such as we would think of a distant future, and it is a land in which combat is not treated the same as here. They are more peaceful and less violent. And there are no dwarves!” Not in the way that would make any sense to the company.

“Sounds like yer sending us to the elves!” Dwalin growled.

 

“No, there will be no elves there. Nor any other non-human race.” Gandalf assured him, though he saw the discomfort in all of them and heard their murmured dismay. In a moment he was reminded of the behaviors of toddlers and small children. This brought a quirk to the corner of his mouth. That at least gave him a vague guide.

“No elves… no dwarves!” Ori gasped, sending a ripple through the little crowd.

“Only humans, how miserable!” Gandalf couldn’t quite tell who had said that, but he suspected it was either Oin or Gloin, and the quietness of the rumbled opinion gave him the belief it was Gloin.

“Those poor people!” Bofur muttered in pitying dismay.

“Will… will you be coming?” Bilbo asked, his softer voice managing to be heard through the others talking amongst themselves now. 

Looking down at Bilbo, rue in his gaze, he shook his head. “I am afraid not. I must maintain the magic to the portal you will take from this end. The world you are going to has no magic left.” He wasn’t surprised by those gasps of shock. “There is not even memory of it. It is best not to discuss it too openly.” He looked to the others again, “I suggest you find yourselves an ally as quickly as you can, someone you feel you can trust.” 

“How can we trust any of them?” Thorin snarled at the wizard.

“You will have little other choice if you wish to survive. And survive you must.” Gandalf looked up towards the sky, and his eyes moved, tracking things the others could not hope to see. “Ready yourselves. Leave but the barest necessities, they will be here when you return.”

“R-right, because time w-w-won’t pass here…” The voice of the hobbit was tremulous at best.

“Good fellow!” Gandalf smiled to him then. “Keep your wits about you. They are more peaceful, but less understanding, on a whole. A few bright souls still exist that would aid you. You will have to find one. When it is time for you to return, you will see the portal again. Walk through it.”

“What if we’re asleep!?” Bofur objected, starting to sound panicked.

Gandalf shook his head, “You will not sleep through it, that much I assure you.” His head snapped up and he nodded, “It is time. Come now, take only what you need.” And he fixed Fili with a stern look. “Only take a few daggers, if you please.” 

“I always do!” The older of the two princes grinned cheekily.

Bilbo started for his things and came to a stop, turning to face Gandalf, his curiosity giving him some semblance of confidence in his words. “Gandalf… surely if you have the power to do something like this… surely you could complete this journey without us.”

Thorin seemed almost startled by the hobbit’s question, and he whirled to Gandalf then, his eyes expressing the same curiosity for the answer. “Yes, do tell us why you can do this, but not aid more than you have, or intend.”

Looking over at them and huffing, drawing his lips far up in a frown, Gandalf shook his head, “This is not my doing, nor my magic that can do this task. I am merely marking the target, as it were. Now, hurry and prepare!”

Soon the company stood, huddled together in unease, each carrying one pack, wearing their warmest cloak, and holding one blanket. A few carried visible weapons, against Gandalf’s recommendation, and the wizard and hobbit both were certain more than a few, if not all, carried numerous hidden weapons.

Gandalf looked them over. “Remember what I said, cause no trouble, and stay alive!” With one last uncertain glance at the company, he turned away, to face the dawning light. Raising his staff, he brought it down to the earth, aligning it just so for a second, and in a moment the rays of the dawn sunlight gleamed through the tangled wooden roots of the tip of the tall shaft. The end of the staff began to glow, and it grew brighter, and brighter, and brighter still. 

It was blinding by the time the dwarves and hobbit realized that not only could they hardly see each other, they felt as nearly sickening pull on their whole bodies, seeming to stretch them beyond themselves. It didn’t hurt, but it gave every one of them a sense of terror that, could they have but moved in that instant, would have sent even the bravest of them fleeing. Just when it seemed they could no longer stand it… it got worse.

Reality folded upon itself, creating a wrinkle in the fabric of space and time, connecting two very distant points. What this felt like to the dwarves cannot be truly put into the words of any mortal creature, for the words do not yet exist. Though as the rare travelers such as these go, upon his arrival at their destination, Bilbo put it in the best yet description.

“Nope.”


	2. Piper and Riordan

In the unsettling moments after their arrival, a number of the dwarves were caught by surprise with a heavy wave of nausea. More than a few empties their stomachs, which took a good deal longer for poor Bombur, upon the ground they arrived upon. Bofur, still struggling to hold his dinner down, patted his brother’s back and tried to speak comfortingly, and it would have worked had he not been gagging every third word. 

Those who weren’t divesting themselves of their dinner were looking around in various stages of dazed unease. Dwalin and Gloin recovered first and they were pacing a circle around the others, trying to spot any threats. The only thing they saw was a young boy, who was sitting in a swing nearby, staring at them, his jaw hanging. Dwalin cursed, while Gloin tried to apply his best “fun dad” voice to the situation. 

“Hey, now, don’t worry ‘bout what ye just saw, laddie.” Gloin kept his hands up In a pacifying manner. “We jus’, erm, we jus’ go’ here, ain’t nothin’ t’ worry about…” and he sighed heavily when the child sprang off the bench and ran to the other side of a large construct, that the dwarf assumed to be a play space for the child, and likely any others who would come by. 

“Moooooooooooooom!” The child yelled, running behind the structure. 

The others clambered to their feet and stood in a tight group, around their youngest members and their leader. They also made certain to stand a comfortable distance from where some of them had heaved. Which was a lovely odd sort of picture when the child returned, with his mother in tow. The group rippled with some quiet murmurs, and Balin found himself pushed to the forefront. 

“Ah, lass, we didn’t mean to frighten you’re bairn, quite sorry about that.” He said as politely and diplomatically as he could, praying to their distant Mahal that she both understood and would stay calm. In his experience mothers of small children could be quite unpredictable. With luck she wasn’t at all like the dwarrowdam who had lived near them back in Ered Luin, she would go off into fits of someone so much as looked at her wee dwarflings wrong.

The woman, who was quite unusual to them to start with, seemed to be entirely caught off guard. She had brightly colored hair, which no one among the dwarves even dared believe was natural, and wore tight fitting leggings, along with a low scoop cut blouse, with the face of a cat on it. Shocking to all of them was how short her hair was, buzzed on one side and longer on the other, it barely reached her chin. What sort of woman had so little hair!? 

“Uhm…” She started, looking dumbfounded. A whole gaggle of oddly familiar men were staring at her and one spoke. 

“They came from the air!” The boy said, gripping her hand with both of his and bouncing up and down with such enthusiasm that his mother was jerked around. 

“Okay okay, leave my arm attached!” She hissed at him, drawing her hand back from the four year old. “I see them! Honey, I don’t think they came from nowhere. People don’t just… pop out of the air!” 

“Moooom!” The boy insisted, sounding frustrated now. “They did!” He stomped his foot and crossed his arms over his TMNT t-shirt. “You never listen…” At four he felt very grown up now, and he also felt that his mother ought to listen to him more than she did sometimes. 

While the two humans were speaking, Bifur looked over to see his cousin standing with his jaw hanging open, staring at the woman. He glanced between them for a second, before a smug grin spread on his face, and he eyed her more skeptically. She wasn’t a great deal taller than any of them, perhaps a handful of inches over Thorin’s height, and while she didn’t have the stockiness of a dwarf, she certainly had pleasant curves, and her clothes didn’t hide that fact at all. How did anyone let a woman like this out dressed so!? Then an awful thought struck him, if she had a child, she had a husband. He looked to Bofur once more, and saw the pain on his cousin’s face, feeling quite crestfallen himself. What an awful curse!

“Ah, yes, actually, miss, your young boy may have a point,” Balin ventured slowly. “We,” he glanced over at his king and received a subtle nod telling him to continue. “We did rather appear out of thin air.” 

“Excuse me?” She faced him with her brows raised, looking skeptical and unamused. While she didn’t find offense in his attitude, she didn’t appreciate someone leading her son on about things she had just explained to him couldn’t happen. Something nagged the back of her mind every time she looked at them. They looked so familiar! Why couldn’t she place where she had seen them before? 

Another figure pushed his way forward in the rag-tag group. “Ah, ye can’t really hold it against the poor lad, we did just pop up on him!” Bofur insisted, coming to the boy’s defense, if only because he couldn’t stand not saying something to her at the moment. “If yer gonna be angry at him fer his words--”

“I’m not angry, I just didn’t want him telling me tall tales, thank you.” The woman replied curtly.

With a heavy sigh, Balin nudged Bofur back. “Before we get off on the wrong foot,” he shot the hatted dwarf a glare. “I apologize for my… friend.” Shaking his head he smiled politely once more. “My name is Balin, son of Fundin, at your service.” He bowed, and stood up to explain more, but saw the woman had clapped her hands over her mouth in shock. “I.. uhm… we, rather… a-are you alright?”

“Dwarves…” she muttered, recognizing them then. It had been a few years since she had watched any of those movies, or even read the book for that matter. But it was slowly clicking into place. They looked exactly like the cast of The Hobbit! “You’re… oh my!” What detailed cosplayers! As a bit of a nerd herself, though she tended towards more science fiction, she was thoroughly impressed. “Just missing a hobbit, huh?”

“No! I’m right here!” Bilbo piped up, before he realized her statement was rather strange, considering they didn’t know her, and expected she didn’t know them. He shuffled through the dwarves to step forward. 

“Wha--” This was too much suddenly. He was a very very tiny Martin Freeman. Quite exactly. Her eyes scanned the crowd, Aiden Turner, Richard Armitage, and Dean O’Gorman, those faces she recognized immediately, others she spotted but didn’t recall their names, for they hadn’t been in many other things she had watched. Dwalin and Bofur were among them. After a second she realized she was looking up at them, and a few were running to her side. Without realizing she had sat down quite abruptly, her legs giving out under her. “Y-- you… you… you’re… hu~uh~...” With an trembling exhale, she looked them all over. 

She lifted one hand to grip her son’s wrist, reassuring herself he was still there. “Am… am I dreaming?” She asked them, quite calmly after a moment. 

“No, lass.” Balin assured her in a gentle tone, knelt before her. She looked a touch too pale for his comfort. “You see true.” 

“Take it easy now,” Bofur urged, crouched at her side. “Just breathe… tha’s a girl!” He reached out to gently rub her back, but couldn’t help but grimace when she tensed under his touch. “Sorry…” 

“I’m… I’m alright… Just… gimme a sec.” She shivered, looking up at all of them. “What… are you doing here? You’re… you’re not…”

“That damned wizard sent us here,” Thorin rumbled from nearby.

“That’s a bad word!” The boy piped up, pointing a finger at the king. 

“Riordan!” His mother hissed.

Turning his blue gaze on the boy, Thorin cracked a grin after a second, and leaned down, setting his hands on his knees, as he had done with Kili and Fili when they were young. “That is is, young man. You’re very right, and I’m sorry if I used foul language in front of you and your mother. Will you forgive me?”

Not quite accustomed to being spoken to in such an adult way by strangers, most people tended to just pass the kid off as a young one who got half baby-talked to, Riordan slowly nodded, while leaning against his mother’s shoulder shyly. “Yeah.” Then, perhaps inspired by Thorin’s directness with him, he smiled, “I’m Riordan at your… uhm…”

“Service,” Balin filled in for him, realizing the boy was mimicking his earlier introduction.

All of the dwarves grinned when the boy bowed, if a little awkwardly. While not all of them were fathers or uncles themselves, it was natural for their kind to cherish children. And the boy was undeniably adorable. 

While this transpired, the woman slowly got herself back to her feet, brushing off her backside. “Right well I’m… I think I need to sit somewhere still… Rio, go play some more, okay? Let mommy think a bit.” She ushered her boy off towards the playground. 

Riordan didn’t seem too pleased, but he followed her command, not before groaning in exasperation. However at the prospect of playing, instead of talking to a bunch of adults, he was soon bounding off to have fun on the playground equipment. 

Balin helped the woman over to a bench, and watched as she sat down. He took a seat next to her. “I’m sorry if we upset you, lassie. We’re quite out of sorts ourselves. You see… we were on a bit of a journey--”

“I bet.”

“When we were sent here.” Balin looked over at her, wondering what she had meant. 

“So… so you’re… you’re really real…?” She looked over at him, raising her hand to gently touch his shoulder, then it ghosted up to his cheek. Eventually she straight up poked his nose, gently of course.

Balin chuckled, letting her touch his face, realizing she was still trying to cope with this new reality as much as they were. At least they had had warning. “Aye, lass, we’re quite real. Ah, now, this here is Bofur, and here is Dori, Ori, Dwalin, and our leader, Thorin. And our b-- hobbit, Bilbo.” Introducing him as a burglar seemed in poor taste in this situation. “And that’s Fili and Kili, playing with your lad.” 

Looking up, she smiled a little to watch her son laughing as the dark haired brother caught him at the bottom of the tall slide, the lighter haired dwarf at the top, having followed him up. “I’m Piper.” She introduced herself, looking over to Thorin first then. “So… you’re really dwarves… of Middle Earth?”

“You know of us?” Thorin asked, suddenly on edge.

“Y-yeah…” Piper’s mind flashed a red flag. If she told them of certain events… it could be disastrous, she’d seen too many television shows dealing with time travel and knew she couldn’t tell them. “Your world… is a land of fable in ours. It’s a story book. A very old one, actually. But… how are you here?”

“Gandalf.” Thorin huffed. “Likely the doing of the Valar, for what reason I cannot fathom.” He looked away, at his nephews who were happily entertaining the boy and giving Piper time to think. Though he almost wondered, watching Kili going down the ramp on his behind, that his younger nephew wasn’t doing it just for fun himself. He caught Fili’s eye and the two exchanged a nod. Yes, they were good lads, and quite understanding. 

“I see… so you just got sent here? Why here?” Piper asked, looking around at them all as they were once again gathering around her. 

“We don’t really know for sure, except Gandalf said we would be safe here.” Bilbo spoke, from not too far from her knee. He winced when she jumped, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. This must all be quite surprising for you.”

“For me…?” Piper’s eyes widened, “Not nearly as much as it must be for all of you!” Looking around at them, she realized that they stood out like a sore thumb. “Oh boy… uhm, you know you don’t exactly fit in… right?” In particular she eyed Dwalin and his axes. This could start a scene if someone came along. During a busy weekday, this park wasn’t very often occupied, but it wouldn’t be long before students were getting out of school. “We should go, all of you can’t be seen here, someone will… anyone could…” Shaking her head, she stood up, “I can fit you all in the back of my truck…”

“And why should we follow you?” Dwalin rumbled, arms crossed. He hadn’t liked the way she eyed his weapons with such obvious distaste. 

“We aren’t to cause any trouble!” Bilbo interjected, “I’m sure being seen out here wandering around like vagabonds would be trouble!”

Thorin looked down at their burglar and nodded slowly, “The hobbit has a point. It seems we have found someone we must trust, just as the wizard said.” He turned, stepping in front of Piper, the others moving out of his way. “Lady Piper, we humbly beg your aid in this land, which is strange to us. We will follow your lead.” 

Staring at him, her mouth moving without sound, Piper nodded, in a slow and rather disconnected sort of way. “Right…” She breathed the word out before she felt her lips quirking into a faint smile of disbelief. “Okay, right,” confidence began to fill her voice and she nodded. “Boys!” Turning, she faced the playground, “Riordan, bring your friends. It’s pizza night!” 

“PIZZA!” Riordan slid down the fireman’s pole and sprinted for his mom. Except he tripped first, landing flat on his face in the wood chips. He got up, sniffling and whining as though he was about to cry. Before the tears could come, both Fili and Kili were at his side, the elder brother brushing off the bits of wood clinging to the boy. They joked and cheered him up, quietly, so as to, in their minds, let the boy retain his pride. Soon he was smiling, and Kili hoisted the boy onto his shoulders, bouncing him as they returned to the rest of their group. 

Piper just smiled and shook her head at them, quite used to her son’s rough and tumble antics. “Silly half-pint.” She teased him, reaching out to poke her son’s tummy, earning a giggle. This was all so strange, it hurt her head to think about it too much. But she was quite certain she wasn’t dreaming, and they were, in fact, very real. The implications of the whole matter she could think through later, for now she had the inclination to deal with things as best she could think how. And getting them off the street, out of the open, seemed the smartest idea. It had been two years ago she had inherited a plot of property that belonged to her family, first her grandparents and then her parents, and now her, a good nine miles out from town, it was ten acres of wooded land. Her grandparents had been loggers, and her parents had helped them purchase the land to retire on, following suit when the time came. It was after her parents had passed, within months of each other, that she’d become the owner. It provided the seclusion needed for her usually reclusive personality, and now the seclusion needed by the company. The company of Thorin Oakenshield. Oh she so badly wanted to reread that book! 

Grabbing up her oversized purse, which was really just an old diaper bag she used for outings now, she motioned for the group to follow her. She could hear them talking amongst themselves, parts of it she caught, them wondering if she was trustworthy, which she understood, for she would feel the same if the situation was reversed. Bless the gods it wasn’t! Thinking back on the world she had seen in the movies, she repressed a shudder. Nope, she was happy living in a world where orcs simply didn’t exist. Listening still to the talk around her, she realized parts of the conversation were in a language she didn’t know. Of course, the dwarves had their own language, everyone in Middle Earth did. She didn’t recall the name of it though, but looked back at the two speaking it. The one with the hat, Bo---Bo… Bofur! Right, and the one with an axe in his head. However did he survive!? And how was he not suffering from metal poisoning, or any other infections?! Chalking it up to dwarven immunity, she let it go. One more thought to address later.

Bofur caught Piper looking over at them and he smiled, “Ah, my cousin, Bifur, was just wondering… what’s a truck?”

The whole of the company fixed their attention on Piper, and she nearly stumbled then, not used to being the center of attention. This was why she had found a way to work from home. “U-uh… it’s well… it’s like a cart… without horses… it’s got a motor, uhm… an engine… machine thing that powers it.” There were many looks of curious interest, and she hoped they wouldn’t get too curious and take it apart when she wasn’t looking or something of that nature. Instead she pointed ahead to her pickup truck. It was her dad’s old truck, with a canopy on the back, the windows tinted. She had used it many times for short camping excursions, sleeping in the back instead of a tent. “Okay, so some ground rules, no bouncing around in it, okay? Makes steering hard.” Hauling her cousin’s pack of large dogs around for a week while her cousin was out of town had taught her that. “So, here’s the plan, since I don’t really have anything read to feed a whole herd of dwarves.” 

“HERD?!” A few voices objected. 

She turned over her shoulder and raised a brow, “You do look like one.” That seemed to leave a few grumbles, but even the members of the company had to relent that she was right. “Like I said, a whole herd of dwarves and one hobbit, so we’ll be picking up some food. Which means seeing people. Probably we’ll fit most of you in the back, the windows are tinted, so unless you’re right up against them, no one should notice you. People up front, let me do the talking.”

“Aye, lass, that’s wise.” Balin said, quickly before anyone else could object. He knew his kin were a stubborn lot, and could be boisterous and often spoke before thinking. “We’ll do what you ask.” 

And so it was that Piper Janet Morgan found herself loading up thirteen dwarves and one hobbit into her truck. Thorin, Balin, Fili and Kili sat in the cab with her, the two boys relegated to the back, on either side of Riordan’s booster seat, and the king and his advisor in the front with her. Everyone else was put in the back. Bofur and Nori carefully kept Bilbo between them, setting him on the wheel well, so that he wasn’t squished in among the rest of the dwarves. Dwalin had his back to the cab, scowling as they were shut in. Bombur had taken a little help to get up onto the tailgate, and the woman was so very glad she hadn’t taken her cousin’s advice and put a lift kit on the truck. They’d never have gotten the rotund dwarf up there!

After explaining the seat belts, Piper started the engine, and waited a second to let her little herd adjust. Then they rolled out. Fili and Kili were plastered to their windows, and as much as he tried to keep his image up, Thorin was quite the same. Balin, seated in the center, had to spread his legs to keep from being hit in the knee by the stick shift. He watched as she piloted the vehicle, asking questions now and then about it, which he was quite pleased to find she gladly answered. He was aware, at times that she was keeping it simple, and he knew he wouldn’t understand all of it she didn’t.

“Momma, can we have music?” Riordan asked, after a moment of being bored, because his two seatmates were ignoring him. Though his question got Kili to look back at them. 

“No, not right now, Rio. Later okay? I wanna be able to talk to Balin.” Piper explained to him, glancing at the child-mirror she had clipped on her visor. “Why don’t you read one of your books, okay?”

“Okay…” the boy sighed, but reached into the pocket on the back of the seat in front of him, pulling out a book about horses. 

It wasn’t long until Fili had leaned in to look at it with him, it was mostly pictures, but a few simple words. He could recognize the type as being what he knew as Westron, but it was so uniform, he wondered how it had been written so neatly. As he listened to the boy reading, struggling with a few words, he smiled and quietly helped the lad. “Gallop.”

“The horse can… gallop.” Riordan repeated, and looked up with a grin, then went to the next page. “The horse can jump!” 

The ride to the sole Pizza Hut in town went this way, Balin asking questions, Thorin studying the world around them, Kili looking at all the buildings with awe, and Fili reading a child’s book with Riordan, and the rest of the company bouncing around in the back.

“You’ll never fit in wearing those clothes though…” Piper mused to Balin as they pulled out of the parking lot. He and Thorin had been charged with holding the stacks of pizza boxes, which everyone agreed smelled delicious, since they wouldn’t fit in the backseat with the boys. Balin had quickly surmised that left in the back with the others, there would be none left when they got to Piper’s place.

“We have no other clothing, I’m afraid.” Balin shook his head. “We’ll just have to make do.” 

“Mmm, no.” Piper shook her head, “We can get some clothes to fit you. There’s a thrift shop in town that sells second hand clothes, and if nothing there fits, then I know a good store to get decent priced stuff.” 

“We have only a little coin ourselves yet.” Balin said with some uncertainty. “I doubt we could afford to buy ourselves new wardrobe just yet.”

Piper shook her head again, turning them down a different street. “Wouldn’t matter, our currency isn’t the same. Don’t worry, I have plenty enough for some new clothes for you guys. I do actually earn quite a bit myself.” 

“What is it you do?” Thorin was the one to speak up then, having been listening to the conversation. 

“I’m… well, I… see there’s uh…” Piper fumbled, trying to figure out how to explain what it was to be a programmer. “Okay so, we have a lot of uhm, technology, very advanced machines that run on… data, uh, information and it’s all written up in a certain language that these computers, the machines, can understand. It’s really complex, in a way, and… well I write that, and fix errors in it.” She frowned, knowing she wasn’t doing very good at this. “It’s a necessity, everything runs on code now, so it’s a good paying job.”

“It must be hard to explain, we have nothing of the like.” Balin said with a reassuring smile. He was also sneaking one of the pizza boxes open, having found the side that admitted such, and he peered at the food. “What is this again?” He asked, half to give her something easier to talk about, and half because the smell of the food was overpowering his senses and his stomach was rumbling. 

“PIZZA!” Riordan cheered, “Pizza pizza pizza!” 

“Inside voice, young man.” Piper chastised, “It’s flatbread, with sauce and cheese and toppings. Also it’s Rio’s favorite.”

“I gathered that,” The old dwarf chuckled merrily.

In the bed of the truck, everyone was sniffing and mumbling in anticipation of whatever that was the smelled so good.

“So she’s go’ a decent job, an’ she’s go’ ‘nough to feed us!” Gloin mused, “Sounds like a nice lass!” 

“You’re just thinking with your stomach,” Nori said with a smug grin. “Sounds like we’re getting new clothes too.” He turned to look over at his friend with the hat, and saw a strange melancholy on his face. That was odd. But soon they had turned onto a rougher road, that wasn’t made of the strange packed rock stuff, and their attention turned to keeping themselves in their spots, and not being impaled upon their weapons.He and Bofur had their arms clasped in front of Bilbo, after the hobbit had nearly been shot off his perch.

“Slow it down, will ya!?” Barked Dwalin, as he grasped the lip of the truck bed tightly. “Crazy woman is gonna be the death of us!”

However, they were at their destination soon enough, all marveling they had traveled so far in such a short period. And they looked up at the tall house before them. It was two stories tall, and though they couldn’t see it, it had a full basement as well. 

“C’mon in, and we’ll get you fed, then I can pop back for some clothes at the shop.” Piper said, getting out of her door. “Ah, Thorin, Balin, would you two be willing to go back to town with me, you can help make sure I buy the right sizes.” 

“Of course, lass.” Balin smiled, handing her the stack of pizzas so he could get out of the tall truck. Thorin managed to jump down without losing any of his load. And the boys were out, having figured out how to unbuckle Riordan too, following the boy to the door while his mother opened the hatch and let down the tailgate to let the others out. “Be happy to help.”

“Let’s have PIZZA!” Riordan squealed in delight, getting cheers from the two princes at his side.


	3. More Mouths to Feed

Hours after everyone was fed, dressed in new clothes, Piper had let Riordan out to play in the yard, and he had dragged Fili, Kíli, and Ori out to play kickball, Piper went on to climb up to the little attic and bring down spare bedding, realizing that she might have house guests for some time. She pulled the ladder down from the ceiling door when she heard someone coming up. Seeing Bofur, in his brown flannel shirt and khaki pants, she grinned. He had kept his hat and scarf, and his gloves and boots, but the rest he had put aside for now. “Hey, Bofur. Whatcha need?”

“Jus’ came t’ give ye a hand if ye need it.” He replied, walking over to her. “Ah, that’s a good little hidey hole!”

“Mm? Oh it’s just attic storage. Spare stuff and whatnot.” 

Bofur nodded, eyeing the construction of the folding ladder. Interesting. “I see. Did yer husband build it?”

Piper chuckled and shook her head. “My grandparents built this place. Then my parents had it, and we lost them two years ago, so I inherited it.”

“Oh! My condolences then.” Bofur took his hat off, holding it to his chest as he gave her a slight bow. “It’s a very nice place.” 

She smiled, amused. “Thank you. I loved coming to visit here when my grandparents still lived here,” she explained as she climbed up the ladder. “Never expected to own it though. Guess it was logical, I mean, we paid off the land fairly early and my parents finished the few payments on the house my grandparents couldn’t make. So it was all paid up by the time mom and dad moved in.” Her voice faded some as she reached the top of the stairs, but she returned to peer down at him. “I’m gonna toss down blankets, ok?”

“O’ course!” He agreed, holding his arms out. “So your husband didn’t build a home for you?”

“Haven’t got a husband. Never married.” Came her muffled voice before a pile of dusty blankets dropped down on him. 

“Wha—!?” Bofur started to question her but the dust got sucked into his lungs and he started coughing. When he looked up again, he spotted her head hanging out of the doorway, with a humored grin, and she giggled when she saw him looking at her. “Aye, just laugh at ol’ Bofur! Don’t mind me down here dyin’!”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic!” She rolled her eyes, but was still chuckling. “Just dust!” Another pile of blankets and some pillows came tumbling down after that. One caught the dwarf in the face and he yelped and had thrown it back at her before he realized what he had done. Luckily she took it in good humor and began aiming pillows at him. It wasn’t long until most of the pillows were in a disarrayed pile around Bofur and they were both laughing. Piper was bringing the last few down the ladder when she stepped on the corner of a blanket draped over the rung. It slid and she went sprawling with a loud yelp, confused when she felt herself caught by strong arms. “Oof!”

Bofur, pinned under the woman, her legs across his chest, his arm behind her back in a desperate attempt to prevent her from striking her head on anything, winced when her shoe that had fallen off in the tumble, was wedged in his back. He was supporting her mid back, her rather nice rump on his shoulder, and he just smiled up at her. “Ye a’righ’?”

“Uh… yeah, yeah I am.” Surprised at their situation, she looked around, glad he appeared uninjured, if a touch squished. 

Up the stairs thundered a number of dwarves, and they rounded upon the two heaped on the floor. Piper was looking up at the ladder, while trying to detangle herself from Bofur. 

“I’ve never fallen on that… crazy.” Shaking her head, she looked back to see the crowd of dwarves, and gladly accepted Bifur’s offered hand as she stood. “Thanks, and thank you, Bofur. I bet you save me from getting hurt.” 

The miner just grinned from his spot on the floor and reached behind him, handing her back the shoe. Everyone else but Bofur and Bifur gathered up blankets and pillows and carted them down to the den. 

“For a dwarf who was nearly flattened, you look quite pleased.” Bifur smirked at his cousin, speaking of course in Khuzdul. 

“You’re awfully mouthy!” Bofur shot back with a wide grin. Still, as much as he didn’t want to draw attention to the fact his cousin was right, he couldn’t even try to deny it. 

Bifur reaches down and clasped his arm with Bofur, pulling the other dwarf to his feet. As Bofur swept his dislodged hat from the floor, dusting it off as though that might actually accomplish something, the older dwarf shook his head. “She’s married, cousin. Else how did she have that boy?”

There was a twinkle of light in Bofur’s eyes. “She’s not. Never has been.” He shrugged, unable to help the grin that was starting to spread on his face. “Even Gandalf said things were different here. Maybe it’s not unusual?” He sad, seeing the skepticism in Bifur’s face. “Ye know I’d be de last t’ judge.” When he had been near Fíli’s age, he had a wild streak in him that had involved certain ladies of a particular employment. No dwarven female would ever work thusly, so they had been females of the race of men. 

The axe-headed dwarf heaved a breath and shook his head. “And here I thought you just had a particular taste in females!”

Scoffing, Bofur reached out to playfully cuff his cousin on the shoulder. “Hey now!” They both chuckled and made their way downstairs. Though at the top of the stairs they had heard a commotion, not one of any sort of panic or ill-naturdeness, and by the time they had come down and around the corner of the short hall leading to the den, they came into sight of an epic battle. Of pillows. 

Riordan seemed to be the instigator in all of it. The young lad shrieked and giggled, laughing at he swung his pillow at unexpected nimble dwarves. Oin and Balin has wisely stepped away into the dining room adjacent this open room. Dwalin was standing guard in front of a glass case with fancy knick knacks, while Dori had been stationed in front of a large black rectangular thing. Kíli and Fíli were running about, both avoiding pillows either swung or thrown at them by the boy. Ori and Nori were whacking each other and occasionally Gloin. What surprised the two coming into this scene was Thorin was crouched, pillows in hand, jousting with Riordan as he came by. 

As stoic and majestic as the king was, he has helped raise his nephews, and did greatly enjoy children’s antics and playfulness. Even if he didn’t get to indulge often now that the boys were grown. 

“Where’s Bombur?” Bofur asked after a moment of watching the group playing. 

“Went to the washroom.” Dwalin said, his eyes tracking the small child, even he was grinning. With so few dwarrowdams, a child was precious. Even in these strange circumstances, it did the hearts of the company good to see the boy, so full of innocent laughter and lightheartedness. Though they didn’t know it yet, this was turning out to be just the break they needed, better even than when they all nearly destroyed Bag End. 

Wincing a little, Bofur turned and started towards the hall. “Which is…?”

“Two doors to the right, yeah down that hall.” Piper grinned at him, pointing him in the direction of the bathroom. She was promptly distracted by the backswing of Nori’s pillow as he tried to get his brother, and had hit her in the face behind him. This started a scuffle, that the woman gladly joined in. The dwarves, while accepting, were mindful of the woman and child. 

With a grin at them, Bofur walked away to check on his brother. Whom he found just stepping out of the bathroom, with a disturbed expression. “What happened?”

“It’s pourin’ water everywhere!” Bombur hissed in quiet panic. He pushed the door open to show the water running out of the toilet bowl. “What do we do?!”

Bofur ran in, ignoring the splashing of his heavy boots. He gave the strange toilet a quick look over, not recognizing how exactly the device worked. “Mahal’s beard…” Turning to his brother with a helpless look, he shrugged, a gesture which Bombur repeated. 

Soon Dwalin peered around the corner, rolling his eyes. “You two imbeciles are messin’ up the lass’s house!” He growled at them, shaking his head. Of course they were already making trouble. “Fix it!”

“We can’t!”

Gradually one after another, a dwarf disappeared from the romping about, until there were only a few left, and Piper, realizing something was going wrong, looked about. Where had they all gone? Then she followed the sounds of poorly hushed whispers, and found them crowded around the bathroom, and backed up toilet. One had the lid to the tank in his hand, and she had to muffle a laugh at the panicked expressions, and the pile of towels they were using to sop up the seemingly endless mess. 

“Okay, okay! Boys! BOYS!” She called over the anything but quiet whispering. Going to the sink, she pulled the plunger from the cabinet, “Let me at it.” And in a few minutes she had taught most of the company of Thorin, how to plunge a toilet. Shooting the dwarves off to the den, she got the rest of the mess cleaned up, and bleached.

“Quite sorry about all of this, Mrs. Morgan,” came a quiet voice from the doorway. Bilbo smiled politely when she turned to him, just as she was putting things away. “They did rather the same to my toilet, with less of a… puddle.” He grimaced. “I hate to think what it may look like now.”

Piper chuckled, walking over to him. He was just the size of her boy, so finding clothes for him had simply meant giving him Riordan’s nice outfit. “I bet you’ll get it sorted just fine. You seem quite ingenious, and from what I hear of hobbits, there’s not much that can stop a hobbit from making a fine home.” 

Under her praise, Bilbo stood to his full height, looking quite self satisfied. “Bag End is very much a fine home, if I do say so myself. I doubt it would be possible, but for whatever it means, I would very much like to show it to you. You’ve opened your home to us, Mrs. Morgan, it would only be fair.” He hesitated a moment before grinning, a touch of playful humor glinting in his merry eyes. “Though, perhaps after I’ve repaired my plumbing first.”

The woman laughed and gently clapped him on the shoulder. “I appreciate that, I really do, Mr. Baggins.”

“Bilbo, please.” He insisted. 

She grinned at him, “Only if you call me Piper. And it would be miss, anyway. I never married.” Seeing his look of surprise she chuckled, “Different social structure. A woman doesn’t have to marry, not even to enjoy a man’s company.” She waited, amused by his further shock. “I’m not some wild party girl, but I did… get a little wasted and had a very good time. Rio’s a bit of a souvenir from that. It was tough at first, but I love my little boy, wouldn’t change history if I could.” There was a warm sort of smile on her face. 

The hobbit fought to remind himself that this was a different time and a different world, but he saw the look of love on her face, and he smiled. “I can see how much you love him. I may be grown now, but seeing you two makes me miss my own mother.”

Piper smiled at him, nodding slightly, unable to deny she missed hers as well. “My parents died in an accident. I hate that Rio doesn’t have a grandma to spoil him, I hate not having her around to ask her advice. But… I hope she’d be proud of us.” 

“I also lost my parents in an accident,” Bilbo looked up at her, the two sharing a moment of sympathy.

“Hey, c’mon, why don’t you come help me fix up a batch of tea, and you can tell me about your parents.” Piper motioned for him to follow her to the kitchen, a nice large kitchen with a bay window and long curved counter, double ovens, central island stovetop, deep sinks, and a number of nice contraptions. 

A broad smile spreading on his face, Bilbo nodded, “I’d be happy to! And you must tell me about your family in return.”

And so the two went off to fix up tea, and a good sized plate of Milano cookies, for the company. By the time they had tea and snacks, the others had set up a living space for themselves and the absent hobbit, Bofur once more looking out for his little friend. All of her guests were happy to have a cup of tea, and they calmed from their bustling and joking about to sit and drink, even if a number of them would have rather had ale or the like, they weren’t going to turn down a freely offered cup. They took this time to chat amicably with their hostess, many telling her something about themselves, and answering her questions. 

“This is quite nice!” Dori chirped up after a few sips. “What is it?”

“Orange spiced chai.” Piper replied as she sipped her own tea, now and then watching Riordan, who was laying across one of the dwarves’ claimed spots, on the supplied bedding, sound asleep. He had crashed after the pillow fight, when the plumbing disaster had struck. 

Balin, quite enjoying this milk tea, looked up, licking his lip still, and spoke softly so as not to wake the boy. “Miss Piper, while we appreciate that you’ve taken us in, more than you could know, lass, dwarves are very hard to house and feed. You’ve already had to buy what I imagine was a great deal more food than you two would eat, and we seem to have made a mess of your toilet. Which I’m relieved could be repaired so easily.” He saw her starting to object, and held his hand up to hold her off for a moment. “There must be some way we can either make ourselves useful, or somehow take the financial burden off of you.”

Understanding how he, and likely the others, felt, Piper contemplated his words for a few moments. “Well… I had been thinking of going back into my grandpa’s trade. He was a logger, sold firewood mostly, to people who couldn’t go out to get their own. We’ve still got his equipment, and this place could use some tree thinning. A few good loads should give us some funds to keep you all fed.”

“Logging? Like some kind of—” Dwalin was cut off by his king.

“That would be perfect. We’ve felled trees before, at least some of us. It’s a good trade, and we can work fast.” Thorin said with a sense of finality. They had to do something to earn their keep. And it was highly unlikely they could use their skills that they were more accustomed to. He had neither seen nor heard mention of a forge. “We are smiths, miners, toy makers, and the like, but we can easily adapt to becoming woodsmen.”

“Typically we use the term woodcutter, but that works.” Piper assured him. “I dunno if you’ll be here long enough, but in two weeks we’re having a market sale, handcrafted items and such. I’m bringing my decorated candles to sell.”

“Yer a candle maker then?” Bofur asked, curiously, his eyes lighting up to hear she too worked handcrafts. 

“As a hobby, I enjoy it.” Piper got up and walked around to a bookshelf, pulling down a colorful intricately carved and shaped candle. “See? I make these sort of things. People like to buy them for parties and special occasions, since we have electric lights.”

“The magic lights you mean?” Ori piped up, pointing up to the ceiling light. It wasn’t any sort of fancy chandelier, but a simple round glass covered light. 

“Magic… well I suppose it might look like magic, but they’re far from. It’s electricity, uhm… kind of like harnessed lightning? Well… it’s created by machines mostly, but yeah.” Piper pursed her lips, the way they were learning she did when she wasn’t certain how to explain something. 

“There is a lot of your world that is strange to us.” Balin smiled kindly. “We understand, it’s difficult to explain things one might take for granted.” 

“Exactly!” Piper cried with a sense of relief, a bright smile dawning on her face as she felt pleased he understood her horrible attempts at trying to help them understand. “A lot of it is things I’ve never thought I’d have to explain, I don’t even understand how it works myself. The more developed we, as a society become, the more complex machinery and technology becomes. I’ve kept up with some of it, mostly what applies to my work, but I can’t tell you how everything works.” She half shrugged. “Happy to explain what I can,” she offered, tacking quickly on, “Within reason and not constantly,” as she looked over, seeing Ori had his mouth open already, and he snapped it shut sheepishly. “But for now, let’s take it slow and see if we can make this all work for us, okay? I bet you guys are all turned around and messed up, this can’t be easy for you!” 

Bofur stood straighter, just slightly, feeling a surge of what he could only imagine was pride, perhaps a touch of happiness, to hear her so concerned about them like that. “Aye, ‘tis no’ an easy nor comfortable journey for us, but we’re lucky t’ have ye, lass.”

“Mmm say that when you see me tomorrow before I have my coffee.” She teased him. Her mind flitted about to how she would feed them the next day and what to do after that, so thankful she worked at home.

Thorin seemed to recede into his own thoughts, sitting on the sofa, watching everyone around him quietly. How long would they be stranded there? He was itching to continue his quest, his impatience allayed only by the remembering of the wizards words. They would return mere seconds after they had left. Still, to be interrupted so soon after beginning the journey! They had hardly left Bree, but four days ago. He couldn’t help but feel this did not bode well for the rest of the journey. After a moment he felt eyes on him, and looked up to find their hostess looking at him while the others had broken off into quiet conversations of their own. He was startled to see that she had a sort of encouraging expression, as if by some strange magic she could understand his thoughts. Then she made a subtle motion with her head for him to follow and she rose, excusing herself, and slipped away to the kitchen.

Waiting for the king, Piper pulled the step stool over and climbed up to reach her liquor cabinet. Heading his heavy steps and he walked in, she pointed over her shoulder, “Grab a couple glasses, huh?” Then she pulled down a bottle of old scotch she used to drink with her grandfather. It was still a favorite of hers, though she didn’t drink it very often anymore. “My grandfather and I used to drink this together, whenever I needed to get something off my chest.” Hopping down lightly, she went to fill the glasses. “You look like you need to say something.”

Thorin watched her for a moment, contemplating her offer. He picked up his glass when she did, and brought it to his face, first smelling the contents. His brows rose, and he looked down at the dark amber liquid. Bringing it to his lips he sipped it first, appreciating the slow burn and the spicy flavor, though the sweet after taste was a pleasant surprise to him. “You claim that our world is a story in yours. Tell me of it.”

“I can’t.” Piper replied in an adamant tone. “I wish I could, but I can’t.”

Raising a brow, Thorin lowered the glass, his eyes darkening in a faint scowl. “Can’t, or won’t?”

The woman sighed, cradling her half-filled glass in her hands. “Both? I can’t let myself tell you something that could possibly change the outcome, I won’t hurt your world. We have a theory in our world, called the Butterfly Effect. I don’t remember the exact details about it, but it’s something how the wings of a butterfly on one side of the world can cause a hurricane on the other.”

“Mmm… the echoing anvil. It’s not unique to your world.” Thorin nodded. He hated it, but he understood what she meant. “You fear telling us anything would become disastrous.”

Piper nodded, “I will tell you this much, the tales on your world do not stop with your time. There are other great tales, epic stories, or rather events for you. That will matter greatly to many, human, elf, and dwarf alike. I can’t tell you anything that would change your decisions now, because it could change even the littlest of details, which might have bigger repercussions in the future.” Her eyes met his imploringly, and she watched his expression as he thought it over, gradually softening.

Thorin sighed, taking a slow drink once more. “Very well. I will not push you on the matter further.” He relented, for now recognizing that she had a point. It didn’t, however, mean he wouldn’t try to find out information in other ways. He would speak with some of the others and work with them to discern as much as they could before they left.

“Besides,” Piper added, “It’s all written up as a story, who knows what details were changed to make it a better one.” She gave one of her half shrugs, and glanced towards the doorway. “I think I can tell you one thing, though, if you swear you won’t repeat it.”

“On my grandfather’s throne, I swear I shall not.” Thorin answered immediately, and he meant it.

“Gloin’s boy, Gimli? He will be a part of a great adventure, and do many wondrous things.” She told him in a soft voice, to be sure it didn’t carry to the other room.

Thorin’s brows rose again, and he glanced to the doorway before chuckling. “That dwarf is so proud of his lad. I’m sure he’ll be insufferable if that comes to pass.” He looked back at her, “I caution you not to mention his family unless you have an hour or more to spare.” The two shared a laugh, and finished their drinks to lighter talk of logging and what equipment she had to do it with, until Riordan had woken, and had convinced some of the others to go play outside, teaching them the finer points of kickball.

Meanwhile, Piper and Bombur, who was happy to volunteer his aid, worked on making dinner. She had bought, not long ago, very large roast, that she intended to cut up into smaller portions that evening, and store away in her freezer. But it seemed a perfect meal for the dwarves now. Plus she had a large box of potatoes in her pantry and they soon had the roast, cut in half, baking in the twin ovens. Bombur was delighted by them, and looked longingly at the devices. If only he had something like that to use! The potatoes were set to boil, and Bilbo had joined them, and he and Bombur debated seasonings, looking over the spice rack that Piper had. 

When she stepped out to check on everyone, she found Oin had curled up on her couch for a nap, and Balin was perusing her bookshelf, holding one of her father’s old books about car repair. A certain set of books weren’t there, so she didn’t worry about him stumbling across anything he shouldn’t. Then she went to the window to watch the antics in her yard. Thorin and Dwalin had gone off to look at the trees on her property, to best discern which would sell well, she had indicated that there was a good sized stand of tamaracks near the back. The rest of the dwarves were happily engaged in what was becoming quite the unusual game of kickball. Shaking her head, she was amazed at the very strange turn her life had taken. 

Then she turned her head when she heard muttering from the kitchen, in that language she didn’t know. Coming back, she found Bifur had joined them, but he was hiding something in his big hands, and was visibly upset. “What’s wrong?” She hurried over, hoping to help.

Bombur sighed, “Ah, lass. Seems me cousin sort of got carried away tryin’ t’ figure out how yer lad’s toy worked and… he can’t seem t’ fix it.” 

Bifur turned to her, actual tears in his eyes, holding the little broken toy fire engine. He said something in a softer tone, glancing to Bombur to translate.

“He says he’s very sorry, an’ would like t’ make it up t’ ye somehow.” Bombur informed her, his accent not quite as thick as his brother’s but definitely there.

Piper saw the little bits of broken plastic, and quickly guessed the dwarf had never seen the likes of it, only to find it more brittle than he realized. She smiled, scooping it all up and dropping it in the trash can. “Don’t worry about it, accidents are bound to happen, and it was just a little toy Rio’s mostly grown tired of anyway.” Looking back at the language-bound dwarf, she saw there was still distress in his eyes, so she stepped up to him and took one of his large calloused hands in hers. “Tell you what, Bofur mentioned earlier you were a toy maker, so I’m guessing that’s what had you curious about this toy.” He rapid nod had her lips quirking into a smile. “Well then, why don’t you make him something unique to replace it? Then he’ll always have something to remember his new dwarven friends by.”

Bifur’s face lit up with her words, and he spoke, excited and animated, before he swept her into a nearly crushing hug, and dashed away to get his tools. 

Piper ran to the doorway after him, calling out, “There’s a big oak behind the house, if you want to use that!” She turned back to find the strangest look on Bombur’s face. He seemed to happy, but his face was scrunched up with tears in his eyes. “Bombur?”

“Oh, lass, ye… he jus’... tha’ was very kind of ye.” With a sniffle, he turned back to the quiet hobbit and the boiling pot of potatoes. As he stirred them, he was smiling, seeing Bifur from the kitchen window, already running out to the oak tree and inspecting it. Yes, a kind lass indeed. As strange as their stay here was, he wasn’t too displeased by it. “Ah, lass, have we cream?”

“Hmm… just condensed milk in a can.” Piper replied, before quickly realizing she had more explaining to do. If someone calls me Lucy, I’m gonna scream.

While she was doing that, she missed a little pack of dwarves sneaking curiously into her garden shed…


	4. Getting to Know You...r Lawnmower

By the time the meat was cooked, and the potatoes mashed, Piper realized she had lost track of the dwarves milling about her property. Riordan and the three youngest were still out in the yard, having fun. Riordan had gotten Fili, Kili, and Ori into a game of tag. Through some careful chit chat with Bombur and Bilbo, she had discovered that the company had not yet encountered the trolls, but had dealt with the rain she recalled Dori referring to as a ‘deluge’ and the wizard telling Bilbo about the other four wizards. She realized the poor hobbit had little time to endear himself to the dwarves yet, aside from filling their stomachs on that first meeting. They hadn’t yet met the brown wizard, nor the elves. As she could recall, Thorin’s attitude did shift after Rivendell or Imladris, she did like the elvish name for it, but imagined the dwarves would not. Not that she would mention it, thinking it only as a passing thought.

Seeing a figure pass by the doorway, she leaned out, “Oh, Gloin! Could you please let everyone know dinner is about ready?” That certainly seemed to get him perked up and trotting quickly out the door. “Bofur, could you give me a hand with the table?”

“Aye, settin’ it then?” He asked, getting up from where he had sprawled on her overly plush sofa. It was comfortable, and he was regretting that Thorin had already staked it out as his bed for their stay. While Piper had guest rooms, she said they would have to wait until she emptied the stuff she had stored in them out. For tonight the floor would do. He hurried to her side, smiling brightly up at her. Some part of his brain had always regretted the height of human females, but this time he found he didn’t mind it at all. No, even her strangely short and brightly colored hair wasn’t at all disconcerting. It fascinated him, like a cut gemstone. 

“Nope, gotta put the leaf in, otherwise we’ll never fit everyone in here.” Piper quickly guided him through adding the extra sections to the table, and was rather amused by his curiosity about the extended table. She grinned as he crawled under it to inspect the mechanism, and how he watched as all of the pieces fit together. In all likelihood she had just changed the way tables were made in Middle Earth from now on. Then she went to get the dishes out, humming a little tune as she did. 

“Ah, do ye sing, lass?” Bofur asked curiously, having finished his examination of her dining table, he had appeared at her side. 

Piper jumped slightly, realizing she was quickly adapting to the loud steps of the dwarves she hadn’t really taken notice of him coming up on her. “Me? Ehh… not a whole lot. Mostly just lullabies for Rio, though he’s starting to outgrow them. Anymore he only wants me to sing for him when he’s sick.” Her smile was a touch sad, for she felt, as most parents did, that her little boy was growing too quickly. “He’s so independant already.” She sighed, bittersweet.

Bofur reached out to take a stack of plates from her, and he lightly set his hand on her forearm. “He’s a good lad, that boy. Ye have every right t’ be proud o’ him.” 

“Growing up with just me to raise him, he’s had to learn a lot, and fast.” Piper’s expression softened under his touch, and she nodded gently. “He’s bright, he likes working with his hands, there’s a whole bunch of old tools in the shop that are his, he’s always tinkering with bits and pieces of things. My grandpa sort of hoarded everything, so Rio’s had a lot to experiment with.” 

This made Bofur laugh, grinning brightly. “Aye, he’d make a great dwarf then!” 

Smirking, Piper eyed him, “That’s a helluva compliment.” There was a moment, she and he held each other’s gaze. He was admiring her, and she was studying him, wondering what he thought, how she and her boy seemed to the dwarves. “With luck, anything he learns from you guys will be positive.”

“Aye!” Bofur mocked indignance, “How could it no’ be?!”

By then others were drifting in, attracted by the smell of the roasts cooking. Each member of the company was happy to lend a hand in setting the table. Though Piper wasn’t certain she appreciated their method, she wasn’t surprised by it. Claiming herself a spot out of the way, she watched her plates being tossed and flung through the air, along with the silverware. Someone, she thought it was Nori, starting humming a light tune, and soon the others were humming or wordlessly singing along. She realized they were using the beat of the song to keep track of each other’s movements. How ingenious! 

Riordan had come in near the end of the table being set, Balin keeping a hand on the boy’s shoulder so he didn’t dash right into the middle of it. Still the boy clapped along and cheered when they were done. “Momma, can we set the table like that all the time?!” 

Piper barked a laugh and shook her head, “No way, half-pint, I can’t afford the dishes you’d break!” With a grin, she jumped forward, sweeping the four year old up and onto her hip, tickling his ribs and making him shriek with laughter. “Okay, young man,” she set him back on the ground, hiding a wince from him. He was getting far too big to be carrying about like that. “Go wash up.” 

The boy gave his typical groan, but he ran off to the bathroom to do what he was told, a few of the dwarves, and the hobbit, following suit. Some of the older or more stubbornly set in their ways ones stayed and took their seats at the table.

Piper, Bombur, and Bofur all brought trays of food over, while upon his return from washing, Bilbo managed the numerous bottles and containers, in a quick dash back and forth, of things Piper told him were condiments. He’d never seen bottles like that, nor had he heard of a few of the things she set out. Whatever “sour cream” was, though it sounded wholly unappetizing even to a hobbit, she insisted it was set on the table, along with the bacon crumbles she had cooked off, and the diced chives. He also was directed to a big bag of shredded cheese, and a bottle of “ranch dressing” as the woman told him that was the only way Riordan would eat his potatoes. That was a shocker to the little hobbit. Someone who didn’t like potatoes!? 

Once they had everything set, with glasses of water, much to the disheartenment of the dwarves, everyone sat down. Thorin sat at Piper’s side, as everyone insisted she had the head of the table. Riordan naturally was at her other side, and the others filed in. Bombur was more than happy to cut the food, after giving her serving utensils a good looking over and an approving nod. Though the dwarves seemed to take their food in a rather raucous fashion, Piper insisted that Riordan use his best manners still. 

Bofur, who was sitting on the other side of Riordan, reigned in his jovial eating habits to set a good example for the boy, though he did so in a playful way. Sometimes he would be so polite it was very clearly over the top, and other times he’d challenge the boy to cut his meat in certain sizes and shapes, keeping him from cramming huge mouthfuls in after he saw the look of disapproval from his mother at one particularly giant bite. At the boy’s insistence, he gave the ranch dressing a try on his potatoes and had to agree that it did make them a great deal better. However, he had bargained with the boy that he would try the ranch, if Riordan would eat chives on his potatoes.

Piper smiled, watching the dwarf and her boy, wondering for the hundredth time throughout the last four years, how life would have been different if they’d have a more normal family. But then again, normal wasn’t really their thing. She turned to Thorin, smiling pleasantly. “So, have you got everything figured out for wood cutting? I can always run in and get things we’d need.” 

“We?” He mused, arching a brow at her as he chewed his roast.

“Of course! I grew up cutting wood, you don’t think I’d make you do it all yourselves!” Piper scoffed, shaking her head at him with an amused twinkle in her eyes. “I told you, I’d do what I can to help all of you here.”

Canting his head slightly, in a grateful nod, Thorin smiled. “I appreciate that. We will need your guidance to make sure we’re doing the job acceptable to the standards of this world.” He looked to his plate then and then back up, “This is a fine meal, we’re very grateful.” 

Piper blushed, “Well, Bombur and Bilbo were both wonderful help getting it prepared.” She turned and found her fellow cooks at the table and smiled at them. “Bilbo is quite good with his seasonings, even I’m impressed, and I usually everyone says I’ve got a good sense for flavors.” 

Bilbo’s cheeks, too, pinkened, “It’s nothing really, just some things my mother used to use when I was growing up.” He cast a warm quick look at Riordan. “I’m just happy to pass them on.”

The woman chuckled, “Oh yes, I’ve written down everything you used, I’ll be doing my best to copy it in the future.” She lifted her head a little, hearing amongst the soft and less than soft chatter at the table, someone bemoaning the lack of mead or ale. She noticed that Thorin had heard it too, and she grinned, “You know, if anyone here drank so much at every meal, they’d be written of as an alcoholic. You dwarves must have one hell of a constitution.” 

The king cracked a smile, venturing even to laugh. “That we do. It’s probably best your kind do not try to keep up,” He told her with no malice, it was simply fact to him. Men could not drink like a dwarf. “We have a greater appreciation for well crafted ale, is all.” 

Piper let the conversation fall for a while, as everyone filled their stomachs. She spoke up after a while, addressing the king once more. “Without risk of offending anyone, can I ask a question about dwarves? There are few details known and a number that are suspected, but we’re not certain.”

“Very well,” Thorin wiped his mouth with his napkin and sat back in his seat, his meal eaten and his stomach filled comfortably. True, all of them could eat a good deal more, but this was enough to satisfy for now. “What do you wish to know?”

“Do dwarvish braids have meaning?”

The king’s brows rose, and he was surprised that details such as that had filtered to this world. “Yes, they do. The braids and the ornamentation on them.” He motioned his own, “Mine display that I am warrior, this,” He indicated a decorated clasp behind his ear, “bears the crest of my house.” He motioned for Fili and Kili and both turned to show their own clasps that looked very much the same. “Had their father been alive, he would have made those for them. In his absence I crafted them myself.”

“And mine,” Gloin piped up then, taking cue from their leader that it was acceptable to speak about it, “Show my standing in the banker’s guild.” He motioned to the evenly spaced braids in his beard.

Dwalin puffed, his shoulders square as he held his head up with pride. “I mark my braid with victories in battle.” 

“So you choose what you wear then, or is there a sort of baseline?” Piper had leaned forward, looking at each of them as they spoke, noticing their pride.

“Everyone chooses what they want to represent, what they take pride in, or what means the most to them.” Thorin explained.

Dori grinned, pointing to his youngest brother. “Ori has started his set of braids in the scholars guild.” 

The young dwarf in question smiled sheepishly, and tilted his head to show the braids in his own hair and beard. “I’d like to earn a warriors braid too.”

“Oh hush you’re doing quite fine!” Dori admonished, not liking the thought of his brother in danger such as battle. 

“I’m sure you’ll do great things, Ori.” Piper smiled reassuringly to him, glad to see his smile grew more confident. 

“And this one,” Gloin spoke up again, “Me wife an’ I braided on our wedding day! This she crafted for me!” He showed her a slim braid that was nearly hidden in his bushy hair, and an intricately detailed bead that bound the end. “She has one I made of course.” 

“That’s beautiful, Gloin. I can see she really loves you, so much detail!” Piper exclaimed, rising a little to lean across the table and see his bead clearly. She didn’t miss the way his eyes misted. “I’m sure she misses you just as much as you miss her.” 

“Aye.” He said, quietly, and he ran his finger over the bead before he tucked it away into his wild hair again. Although he was misty eyed, he had a warm smile on his face, and his brother was watching him fondly, as were a few others. They all appreciated families and the like, even if most dwarves never married.

Nori caught Piper looking towards him next and he pursed his lips, clearly not sharing, yet he gave her a wink.He grinned at her smirk, seeing the determination growing in her eyes. 

“I want braids!” Riordan piped up suddenly, looking around at everyone, and smiling when it started an uproarious laugh around the table.

“Maybe, if you had enough hair,” Dwalin chuckled, amused at the boy’s declaration. 

The child had a very short cut, that wasn’t even uncommon among dwarven children. As much as they did like their hair, until a child was old enough to help wash, and to keep their hair from getting sticky and messy things tangled into it, short hair was not unseen. It wasn’t until a child was around eight or nine that their parents allowed their hair to grow, by then the little dwarfling was mature enough to take care of it to a degree. Their mothers still tended to the most of the care, in particular the brushing and braiding, but the children could help wash it then. 

Riordan pouted, looking around at the dwarves at their table. “How long does it take to grow?”

Piper chuckled, “If you wanna grow your hair out, it’ll be a while.” Knowing her boy he’d change his mind four times before it was ever long enough to do anything with. “But remember the last time your hair got long?”

Riordan looked down at his plate, nodding quietly. He remembered. Oh did he remember. It had only been a couple of months ago. Thinking about it, he reached up and rubbed the side of his head. “Yeah…” 

Piper caught a few curious glances and explained, “He got a sticky candy stuck in his hair when he fell asleep on it. And that’s why we had to cut his hair all off.” She chuckled, seeing her boy still pouting about it. “I think that was a lesson well learned.” Seeing everyone had just about finished up, she rose, startled when a number of them started to rise too. Ah, old fashioned manners. “Settle down boys. I’m just gonna go get us some tea.” 

“Momma, can we have a soda?” Riordan asked, sounding as sweet and hopeful as he could.

“What’s soda?” Kili asked, looking from the boy to his mother. 

Hearing his question, and the way the others gradually fell silent, Piper knew the dwarves behind her were all waiting for her answer. Quickly she debated a few factors, how much soda she had, and the risks of giving the dwarves caffeine.. .eh, you only live once! “Yeah, kiddo, sure.” 

“Root beer floats?”

“Now you’re pushing it.” Piper laughed, shaking her head at her son and going to get the case of soda she had in the walk-in pantry. She distributed cans to the dwarves, setting one the table before each, quietly got their attention with a hand held up, then demonstrated how to pop the top on the cans. The dwarves, to her amusement, followed suit in a split second, and then there was a mixed reaction after that.

Nori, Balin, Gloin, Dwalin, Bifur, Dori, and Oin all stopped to sniff their drink first. Thorin and Bofur were both looking at Piper, though with very different expressions. Bofur seemed almost to forget he had a drink, and Thorin waited to say a polite thank you, before he raised his can to sip. The rest of the dwarves however, instantly went to chug their drinks. Most of them got the wonderful sensation of bubbles up the nose, and they stopped to clap hands over their noses, objecting in either language. And Nori gave a fine belch, but Kili outshadowed him. Riordan, feeling it was, this time, acceptable, followed suit and got a cheer from some of the dwarves for his attempt. But it was, as had happened before, Ori who won the prize. All the while, the quiet hobbit was grimacing at the belches and sipping as politely as he could, though he kept having to stop to rub his nose, looking mildly amused at the tickle.

“Mighty unusual drink, this!” Balin said, sniffling and rubbing his nose. “It’s got bubbles in it like nothing else!” He did seem to be enjoying it though. In fact, not a one of the dwarves had stopped drinking their soda for long. 

“There are tons of flavors, but we just have this one right now. It’s very sugary, so we don’t drink it very often.” Piper explained. “Glad you all like it.” Then she rose to start clearing the emptied plates, but found a hand on her wrist. She looked up, surprised, at Thorin. 

“Allow us. It’s very kind of you to prepare the meal, and offer your home. The least we can do is help clean up.” Thorin gave the others a pointed look, and soon Piper was privy to a clean up scene not too dissimilar to the one from a certain movie. Though, as when the table had been set, they only hummed a tune, rather than setting to a full song. Bombur, having learned how the sink worked, no longer got to polish off leftovers, but was in charge, with Bifur, of washing plates.

Riordan was sent off to wash up, as he had ranch dressing all over his face. He didn’t return, instead going to his room to play for a while, before his mother stuffed him into pajamas and sent him to bed. 

Once dinner was cleaned up, for it was simply a matter of doing the dishes, as there were no leftovers at all, the dwarves settled in, sitting around the den. A few started to pull out pipes and flint, and their tobacco pouches. Only Bofur saw Piper grimace at the sight, though she didn’t actually forbid them. He looked down at his pipe in his hands that he was filling just then. Did the people here not smoke at all? “Uhm… is it… is it alright, lass, if we smoke?”

“Mmm yeah, just not on my white couch, okay? Even the best cleaners don’t get the smell out all the way.” Piper also didn’t want any pipe ash ground into the fabric. “Alright, if you guys are good for now, I should go get some more work done on this project I’ve got going. Should be a nice big payout if I can get it working, but the deadline is coming up.” 

Bofur smiled kindly, nodding his head, “Best o’ luck t’ ye, lass.” He watched her as she walked out, his gaze lingering, his pipe forgotten. Until he heard a snickering from the young princes. Then he turned and saw most of the others were looking at him. “Oi! Mind yer own!” He waved them off, trying to hide the way his face heated up. “Pesky nosy lot o’ ya…”

“Oi, Nori! I didn’t get you those fancy sleeves to get them all greased up! How did you even manage that?!” Dori griped, looking at the smudges on Nori’s intricately stitched sleeves. “What did you get into to make that mess?”

Nori ducked his head, looking down at his sleeves. Sure enough there was a smear or five of dark grease on them, that could almost be mistaken for orc blood, if it wasn’t for the smell. “Uh, we just looked around… kind of well… come see.” Grabbing his brother’s wrist, he pulled Dori up and out of the room to the front door. Ori, Balin, Fili, Kili, Bifur, Bombur, Oin and Gloin all followed along, either part of the guilty party, or very curious. Nori lead them to the garage beside the house, thinking it was some sort of workshop. There he pointed to some sort of deconstructed contraption. “See? We uh… well we got a little carried away.” He scratched the back of his neck nervously, shuffling his feet from side to side.

“Lad… ye have to put it back t’gether.” Oin grumbled, “It wasn’t yers to take apart!” 

Gloin coughed, knowing he had been a part of the trouble. “We didn’t mean to, it just looked… useful.” 

Balin sighed, shaking his head, “Of course it was useful, for whatever purpose it had before!” He rolled his eyes, not to unlike what his brother might have done. “Do any of you remember how it all went together?”

“I think we lost a couple of parts…” Nori admitted. 

“Fix this!” Balin insisted sharply. “Before the lass finds out.” He turned and headed back to the house, stroking his beard irritably. “Curious bunch of half-wits,” he mumbled as he walked back in the front door. What were they thinking!? His thoughts must have been obvious, both his brother and their king approached him. 

“What have they done?” Thorin asked, his voice low as the three stood, huddled, Dwalin at his shoulder looking stern.

The elder dwarf sighed heavily, “Seems they found some machine in the workshop and have taken it apart, and lost a piece, and it seems they don’t quite know how to put it back together.”

Thorin grimaced, rubbing a hand over his face. “Balin, Dwalin, go supervise them. I’ll… talk to Piper about it.” Huffing, he turned, knowing the two brothers would be just the motivation the rest needed to fix their mess. He descended the basement stairs and followed the short hallway to the room he saw a light in and knocked, then he heard her call to him, so he opened the door. He wasn’t sure what she was doing, she was curled up in a chair, in front of a flat slab that stood upright on a stand, tapping away at a panel of little buttons. “Piper?”

“Mmm just one second okay? Kinda… middle of… numbers….” She typed away furiously, trying to remember the sequence as she entered it. Not realizing she had just asked the heir to the crown of Erebor, the wandering king of the dwarves, to wait for her.

The heir in question didn’t mind at all, he was looking around the room, studying everything. There were a ton of electronics, which he didn’t recognize of course, and schematics on the walls to great vessels, but by the design he couldn’t comprehend how they could float on water. What even was a turbolift or a power nacelle? This Enterprise vessel was a strange one. Then there were pictures in frames. They were so clear he almost expected them to come alive. But there was Piper, Riordan, and a number of people who looked similar to them by their features, so he guessed they were her family. He found himself looking closely at them, smiling when he could see they were clearly enjoying themselves in each picture. Nowhere were there any formal portraits, but daily life images, smiles and fun and memories. It made his heart happy to see such things, but at the same time he ached for the dwarves lost when Erebor fell, and the hardships that fell upon them after. There were few smiles and happy memories made then. He quietly prayed to Mahal, not certain his prayers would be heard, that this kind woman and her precious son would never face such hardships.

“Oh! Thorin! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you wait!” Piper turned her chair to look at him, blinking owlishly. “Is something wrong? You okay? Do you guys need anything?” She rose and crossed the distance to his side, eyes wide and searching his face.

Holding his hands up, Thorin shook his head, missing the way Piper’s eyes traveled to watch his hair sway. “No, nothing is wrong… well, that is not entirely true. It seems that some of my company have gotten a little out of hand, and I have come to apologize.” He sighed when she only seemed confused, “They found a machine in your workshop… and have taken it apart. I have ordered them to reassemble it, but they seem yet uncertain as to whether or not they can.” 

“Workshop…? Oh my garage! Uh… there’s just a snowblower and a lawnmower in there… huh.” She frowned, thinking about if she could afford to replace either right now. Probably not. But they had very little lawn, as most of the ground around them was pine needles and natural growth. She only maintained enough lawn for Riordan to play on. Her mother had done more, but she seemed to like the natural approach better. Hopefully they hadn’t taken the snowblower apart. That she needed. “Well, if they can’t I’m sure I can find a repairman who can.” With a shrug she smiled. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty easy going. Things happen, life goes on. Getting all twisted about it doesn’t help anyone.” 

Thorin stood, staring at her for a moment, before one of his handsome smiles spread on his face. “If only more people had your heart, Lady Piper.” He grunted when she thumped him on the shoulder. “My apologies, Piper. Just, Piper.” 

Shaking her head, she rolled her eyes. “Damn majestic dwarf.”

“Majestic?” He queried, sounding far too amused. “You think I’m majestic?” 

Piper laughed, grinning at him. “Well, it’s probably the most used term to describe you that I’ve noticed.” She looked over at her photo wall that he’d been admiring. “Tell me about yourself.” 

“I thought you knew of us already,” He countered, raising a brow as he watched her face.

She shrugged in that lopsided way she had. “I do, sort of. I mean, I know the major facts, but not the little details. Tell me about you, Thorin. Not Thorin Oakenshield, the great warrior, the crowned prince, but tell me about Thorin, the m--dwarf. Do you have anything you enjoy doing? Hobbies, interests, dirty little secrets?”

Thorin laughed then, “It would only be fair if you shared with me the same.” His blue eyes were lit with a mischief that he rarely let show. But she had a way of drawing that out in people, it seemed. He found a low-set overstuffed chair and sat in it, while she returned to her desk. They chatted for roughly two hours before she finished her work and had to go up to put Riordan to bed. There was a big smile on her face, that none of the other dwarves missed. 

“Had a good time?” Fili asked in a teasing tone of his uncle as the older dwarf joined them, taking his spot on the sofa.

“Mind your tongue. We simply spoke.” Thorin reprimanded him lightly. “Our hostess is quite interesting.” He didn’t see behind him, that Bofur was studying his boots, making certain to meet no one’s gaze. It was a sickening feeling twisting in his gut, he wanted to jump up and scream at their king, but he couldn’t. He wanted to run and find Piper and find out all of these interesting things for himself, but he couldn’t. Instead he grabbed his blanket, pulled his hat down over his eyes and curled up on his spot to sleep, even if it was early. He didn’t feel like being a part of the world right at the moment. 

Bifur and Bombur shared a glance, knowing that was unlike their Bofur to act that way, but they understood it. Bombur sighed, and sat back, puffing on his pipe, while he watched Bifur measuring a block of wood he had hewn from the oak outside. He wondered what sort of toy his cousin would craft, as Bifur wasn’t telling anyone just yet.

Eventually the group came in from outside, claiming they had the machine mostly put back together, or so they thought. And they would finish in the morning, as a couple of them were starting to nod off while working. After another hour, Piper had come to bid those who were still awake sweet dreams, and she went off to bed herself, promising the dwarves and hobbit they could have baths tomorrow. Bilbo seemed the most pleased by this.


	5. You’re My One...Shot of Espresso

Plans for the dwarves helping her had been put on hold for three days, when they needed parts from the store, only to find they weren’t in stock. The saws, most of which were old, were all in need of new chains. Of course her father and grandfather had bought some unusually sized saws, rather than the simple ones that were more common, and they called for a different chain size. They were older models but the parts were available from the company warehouses. It took time to get them in, but soon the saws had been repaired, just before bed the night before. It had given her time to talk more with the majestic dwarven king. The two seemed to enjoy talking together, and had fallen into easy conversation frequently, to the surprise of many others. And the envy of one. 

Even the night before, Piper and Thorin had sat up, chatting until late over a couple of cups of tea. She told him of her family, little details of this world, and he spoke of things she did not know of theirs. He confided, in the dim light of the kitchen, how worried he was, not just for the quest, but his Company. How much he fretted leaving his widowed sister behind. She had many friends, but few who were close. Eventually, their cups were drained and their eyes began to droop. Thorin saw her hiding yawns and leaning on her hand more and more, and he had sent her to bed. She surprised him with a hug goodnight, it felt unlike anything romantic, but rather the embrace of family, or a dear friend. As he watched her go, his lips lifted into a smile. The Valar has blessed them, leaving them in the path of Piper Morgan and her son. If they had to suffer this excursion, it was well that they did so with a friend. 

Morning came far too early for Piper, a sudden noise from downstairs alerting her to trouble, and for once it wasn’t the snoring echoing up to her room. Getting out of bed, she staggered to the door, she gasped as she recognized the sound. “No!” Practically flying down the stairs, tugging her robe on as she took the steps two at time, she muttered a few curses, managing to come barreling into the room of confused dwarves just as the stereo, still hooked up to her Spotify, hit the chorus. 

All eyes turned to see her, her hair standing on end, shorts and tank top in disarray, robe haphazardly clinging to her, as Rihanna blared on, uninhibited. 

“Cause I may be bad but I'm perfectly good at it,  
Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it,  
Sticks and stones may break my bones,  
But chains and whips excite me!”

Scraping up what dignity she could, the woman stalked forward, past the completely shell shocked dwarves, and she hit the off button. Turning, she surveyed them for a moment. “Don’t. Press. Buttons.” And, head held high, she walked away, going back to her room to get out of her sleepwear and into something a little more decent. There was nothing unbecoming of what she had worn, not for this modern age, but what the dwarves were accustomed to, was another matter. She held her emotions in check, until she made it to her room, where her face burned red, and she hid herself behind her hands, shaking her head. “Ohhh that couldn’t have been worse…”

“Yeah it could! Heh, you could have been naked.” Piped up a witty retort, from behind the other side of her door.

“Nori!” Piper groaned, shaking her head and laughing. “That’s awful!”

“Nah, you’re a looker. It’s not awful.”

“NORI!”

The dwarf, leaned against the wall beside the shut door, grinned. He chuckled, quite amused by her outburst. “I’m sure a few of us wouldn’t object.”

The door opened a minute or two later, and a fully dressed Piper stepped out. Wearing some ratted jeans and an old hoodie, she had the long side of her hair, which just touched her chin now, pinned back with a clip, with dragonflies on it. “Okay, Star Boy, why did you follow me up? I hope not to try and get a peek.” Raising one brow, too amused to even look angry, the woman crossed her arms over her chest.

Nori playfully waggled his braided brows, “Well, the thought did cross my mind. But no, just wanted to apologize, I didn’t… I didn’t realize what would happen when I started pressing buttons.”

“Oh, you naughty dwarf!” Piper teased, giving his shoulder a light playful shove, “Just keep in mind there’s some sensitive things around here.” She nodded and started for the stairs, but his next words stopped her for a moment.

“So… is that the sort of music you like? It’s awfully… inappropriate. I think Dori about died hearing it. I’ll remember the look on his face for years to come.”

Piper grinned over his shoulder, “Well then, you’re welcome.” She didn’t, however, tell him her particular taste in music. It was a good deal too eclectic to really explain anyway. “I’m gonna start on breakfast, I hope pancakes are good.” Then she was off down the stairs. When she reached the bottom she saw some reproachful looks from the dwarves, and turned to them, hands on her hips. “Problem?” And her brow raised, challengingly.

“That is… that’s to say, that… that… music, though it can hardly be called that, was entirely inapp—“

“Dori!” Piper cut him off, holding her hand up, not caring that more than a few dwarves seemed further shocked, and the dwarf in question fumbled to a stop and proceeded to mimic a fish out of water. “Life is different here, accept that and move on. In your world, things like that are unacceptable. Here, it’s just another song.” Then she clapped her hands, “Now, on to breakfast!” She looked around for her kitchen pal, Bombur, but couldn’t see him. That’s when the scent of bacon cooking reached her. 

“He’s an early riser, lass,” Bofur grinned, seemingly unbothered by her choice in music. He rose and followed her to the kitchen then, after casting a withering glance at Dori and a select few others. While Piper had been gone, a few had let slip some unsavory comments about their hostess. Not that Thorin had stood for it, in fact the king had beat Bofur to speaking out. Which was probably for the best, no one would question Thorin. “Don’t mind them, bunch o’ sticks in‘ne mud.” Winking at the woman, he watched as she seemed to flow seamlessly into cooking alongside of his brother. She soon pressed a mug of coffee into his hands without his having to ask, and he just grinned at that.

“Momma…. why’r dwofs so loud?” Riordan asked, shuffling into the room in his shooting star pjs, still rubbing his sleepy eyes while he mumbled, still half asleep. “Mmmm pancakes!” Clambering onto one of the stools at the end of the counter, he blearily watched the goings on in the kitchen. He too had a drink handed to him in a few minutes, though instead of coffee it was orange juice. He didn’t drink it right away, instead slumping against Bofur’s side, yawning.

“Ah, lad, couldn’t ya sleep?” Bofur asked, moving his arm so Riordan was tucked close to him, and he ruffled the boy’s hair.

The child just mumbled, and his mother laughed dryly. “He was too wound up to sleep, I’d bet.” The first pancake, Mickey Mouse shaped, was set in front of the boy. “Eat up, half-pint.”

The boy grumbled but did what he was told, with all the grace of a zombie. He was not a morning person, not one bit. “Momma, can I watch tv after breakfast?” He finally muttered, sounding hopeful.

“Yeah buddy, that’s fine. I gotta go show Thorin how to run a chainsaw today, so hopefully tv is the most exciting thing going on this morning.” Piper set plates of pancakes on the table as the smell drew in most of the others. Nori shouting that breakfast was ready brought the rest. “Let me get the syrup, Bo, could you grab the butter?” She gave the hatted dwarf’s shoulder a pat, and went past him to the fridge. 

Snagging the butter dish, Bofur peeked under the lid. “Gonna need more, lass.” He jumped when what seemed to be a brick of butter was dropped onto the counter in front of him, wrapped in some sort of paper. “That should do just fine.” When he looked up, she had a warm smile on her face, and his lips parted in awe for a moment. Then his king spoke from beside him and he nearly threw the butter dish in surprise. Why could she do that to him, steal away his senses and blind him!? Oh that’s right…

“Piper, I want to apologize on behalf of my company.” Thorin huffed, not at all pleased by the strange turn the morning had taken or the discord it had struck within his company. He also hated to think they had offended their hostess. 

“No need, oh majestic one,” Piper teased, “the culprit has already come clean, and I’ll get him back for it later.” From the corner of her eye she saw a star-shaped head pop up at the table, before ducking way down. “Remember, easy going.” Patting Thorin’s shoulder, she took her load to the table, waiting for Thorin before she started dishing up, grinning as she watched the others digging in with gusto. It put a big smile on her face to see them all enjoying her food. 

“You look happy this morning,” Bilbo commented from across the table, on one of Riordan’s old booster seats. 

“Hmm,” Piper pondered his observation, noting most of the dwarves were looking at her now too. “I guess I just grew up with my grandmothers ideals of feeding those you care about, and that a big meal for friends is the best sort of time spent together.” She chuckled, thinking back on her very homebody grandmother. “She was also scary accurate with a wooden spoon.”

A number of the dwarves turned to look at Gloin at her last statement. He just shrugged, keeping a smug grin on his face. He was quite proud of his wife and her spoon, though he didn’t admit it, he was equally terrified of it. 

“Well, we’re always happy t’ eat!” Bombur winked at her from where he sat with a stack of pancakes. 

“Speaking of which, I’m thinking once I get you guys,” She turned to Thorin then, “set up on how wood cutting goes here, which shouldn’t take long, I’m gonna get groceries. I have enough on hand for me and Rio, but that won’t last.” In the last few days, they had nearly wiped out her impressive store of food. It had meant, unfortunately, a great deal of beans. With a good number of dwarves. Which was disastrous to say the least. 

“Would ye be needing’ help?” Bombur asked. He side eyed his brother. “Bofur, why don’tcha go along? Give the lass a hand.”

Shooting his brother a quick glare, Bofur swallowed his mouthful, unchewed, and winced as he tried to get it down quickly. “A-Aye, glad t’ help!” He finally choked out. Once he had gotten the food down he smiled at her. “I’d love t’!”

Piper gave him a look over before nodding. She had spent some of her time yesterday getting minorly distracted by looking up images of the movie cast on her phone. It became clear that the dwarves and hobbit didn’t look exactly like their actors, or the costumed characters. Though, they would, hands down win a cosplay contest. There were just enough subtle differences. “The hat… with your facial hair and those braids, you’re too easy to recognize.” When Thorin and Balin had gone, Thorin had agreed to binding his hair up, something he also did when working the forges. Balin had tucked much of his beard into his shirt to appear less noticeable. 

Bofur frowned, but after a moment of thought and a subtle nod from their leader, he smiled to her. “I can get by without it fer a little while.”

“It might crawl after him,” Nori teased. “Been so long since he’s washed it.” He took a piece of bacon to the face for his remark, but since he just ate it anyway, it was something of a win. 

Riordan’s brows furrowed and he looked at Nori, then to Bofur, then to his mother. “How come you don’t let me throw food?”

“Because,” Piper answered easily, “you don’t clean up after yourself when you do.” She grinned at him and winked. “You coming shopping with us?”

“Can I stay home?”

“If you can find someone willing to watch you.” Piper grinned when at least five of the dwarves volunteered. Normally she wouldn’t let the boy stay with just anyone, but she had gained an inkling of how protective dwarves were of women and children. “And you have to stay in the house while they’re cutting wood. You can watch movies or get your race track out.” She didn’t eat near as much as the others, and took her plate to the sink long before everyone else was done. Then she cleaned up from cooking, ignoring Bombur’s protests, and insisting he eat. “I know this isn’t nearly enough for you all, so eat what you can.” Then she went and checked that there was gas in all three of her chainsaws, two had been her grandfathers, one had come from her father. She didn’t think they would run more than one at a time, but she didn’t feel like teaching them to fill the gas when she wouldn’t be there to supervise. So they had three to run through. By the time she got back inside breakfast was being cleaned up, and Bofur’s hat was on Bombur’s head, and the chipper dwarf was waiting for her. 

Riordan was introducing Fíli and Kíli to television and Netflix, while Ori was once more scouting her book shelf. She could see a little stack of books beside where he slept. During her googling the night before she had pulled up her cousins Vudu account, which they shared, and realized that while The Hobbit was still on there, it was blurred out, and if she tried to focus too hard on it, soon she found herself with a splitting headache right behind her eyes. It had cleared up when she quit trying to see past the blur. The same thing had happened when she had dragged her Tolkien books from her own bookshelf. The pages were blurred and migraine inducing. At least there would be no risk of contamination to the timeline from those. Riordan hadn’t seen the movies yet, and she had planned on starting him on the books at story time, (for he had little love for “kid books”,) after they finished the Narnia series. They were halfway through that one. 

Once the woodcutting crew joined her, she took them out, walked the more responsible ones through chainsaw safety, explaining everything she could think of. Thankfully the dwarves were a bright bunch and picked up on it quickly. It would be mostly Dwalin or Thorin doing the cutting. The others would limb the trees with their own axes or the pair of hatchets she had. True she didn’t use them often, however as she lived out in the woods, she was quite certain to keep everything in good repair. 

After watching Dwalin fall one tree, and Thorin buck it, she was content enough to leave them at it. “Don’t worry about working too fast, just be safe.” With their promises to do their best, she checked on Riordan and the boys, who were all now very attentively watching Scooby-Doo.

“They eat like Bombur!” Kíli exclaimed. 

Fíli scoffed, “Bombur wishes he could fit that much in his mouth.”

Ori just stared for a while before asking, “Is this supposed to make sense?”

Piper chuckled, “it’s a kids show, Ori. It’s very simplistic. Just for fun.” She pointed at Riordan who was bouncing and repeating lines, it was his favorite show right now. She saw more questions forming in the dwarf’s face. “I’ll tell you more about how it works later, okay?”

“Alright. Safe trip!”

“Take care boys. We’re heading out.” Kissing her impatient son, since she had to stand in front of the tv to even get him to notice her, she said goodbye and walked the hatless Bofur out to the truck. Once they were in, and she had explained to him the seatbelt, she stopped and looked him over skeptically. 

Realizing she was studying him, Bofur wasn’t certain if he should return the favor or pretend he didn’t see it. “See somet’ing ye like?” He eventually teased. 

“Just thinking you don’t look quite right without your hat.” Starting the truck up, she pulled out and headed for town. 

Bofur laughed dryly at her comment, reaching up to run a hand over his head. “Aye, don’t feel right without it. But I understand why.” While she had been taking care of her logging crew, Bofur had had time to brush out and redo his braids, being as they were much more simple than some of the others in the company. He was just a simple miner and toy maker, there were few things he had done that were worthy of marking in his hair.

“Is it important to you?”

The miner smiled and nodded, and his voice dropped to a soft tone when he next spoke. “It was my father’s, he gave it to me when I started work in’ne mines. It was ‘bout fifteen years before we lost him. Mine collapse.” He was pleasantly surprised when she reached over to place her hand on his in silent, comforting support. Turning his hand over he gave hers a grateful squeeze, trying to ignore the cool and empty feeling when she drew it back to grip the wheel. 

The rest of the trip into town was filled with pleasant chit chat and idle talk, both finding it easy to talk to the other. They laughed and joked, told stories of their past. Bofur told her of the mines, or selling things at the market. Piper, at his request, told him about Riordan growing up, and living so far away from the town on her own. They talked about hobbies, her candles and how her mother had gotten her into it as a child, but she never really gave it much effort until she was grown. 

Bofur laughed about her silly tales, so pleased to see she was optimistic, even though he felt she had to do so much by herself. Her eagerness and openness with their conversation, and how easily she seemed to get along with everyone else, started him thinking that she might be lonely. True she had her son, but that wasn’t the same. As he understood it, she worked from home, and didn’t go out very much. He hated that she was so isolated, even if it worked out for them. She should have friends, but when he asked about that, she just shrugged it off. 

He watched her, the way her lips curved when she smiled, even while speaking. Her eyes bright and wide, excited and shining eagerly as they talked. His hand twitched when he saw her hair out of place, wanting to reach out and put it back, just to feel the short strands under his touch. He swallowed, coughing slightly, mentally grimacing when she looked at him, her face showing concern. 

“Okay, time to introduce you to drive through espresso.” Narrowing her eyes contemplatively, she nodded. 

“What now?” He asked, eyes widening some. “Espawhat?”

“You’ll see. You like sweet things? How about nutty? Chocolate?”

“All o’ that, lass.”

And so, as they reached town, Piper pulled them into the little coffee stand, the one and only in that little town. She got herself a flavored mocha and one for Bofur. It was still warm out, so she got them iced. And as she handed it to Bofur, he had no clue why she was holding her little “fohne” device up. She snapped pictures of his face. Confused, anticipating, surprised, and excited. In all of two sips. “Good?”

“This is wonderful!” He grinned at her, trying not to drink it too quickly so he could savor it. That was what she was doing after all. But it was so hard to do when it was this delicious. Oh Bombur would be so jealous. Though as his initial excitement faded into continently enjoying his drink, questions bubbles up in his head. “So, how does money work in yer world?”

“Same as yours, just different currency. We have paper money. The government has gold reserves, the paper just represents how much of that reserve you’re using.” That was, of course, a very simplistic version. She wasn’t about to get into the stock market. After that she answered questions that helped him narrow down the general value of their money. He was stunned by how much less one could buy per coin, or dollar as it were, in this world. “Yeah.. economy-wise we’re a wreck.” She answered a few more questions that gave him an idea of how much it cost to buy groceries for her and Riordan each week, for she typically went grocery shopping every Friday. 

Then they arrived at the store, and as they went in, Bofur had to fight to keep his jaw from dropping to the floor. So. Much. Food. And she said their economy was bad! But as he watched her shop, picking through for good prices and good buys, he watched the prices on the tags, and realized just how much they were costing her to be there. He stashed that thought away for another time, and went on helping her shop. The cart she had certainly made life easier. Even if it did have a wobbly wheel. He was looking over a shelf of cheeses, which was somehow kept cold, and watching her grab pre-packaged meats. The butchers at home would be so jealous of that! 

She grabbed one, had nearly put it in the cart before stopping herself. “Whoops, let’s not… that was habit.” And she put the finer cut steak back, getting a cheaper cut roast instead. “Eggs and milk, then let’s look at pasta and rice.” Even under his skeptical gaze, she has bought quite a bit of vegetables and fruits, and had preemptively told him they were on the menu, like it or not. “Ooh, how about curry!” Swinging the cart back she picked up a large package of chicken breasts, looking excited. From the bread section she grabbed every package of some flat bread he’d never seen before. 

“Naahn?”

“Naan.” She corrected absently, looking over the spices available. Finding the one she was looking for, she tossed it into the cart and then went on to find more options for large groups that were affordable. 

Bofur was reading labels all over, now and then holding something up curiously. “Macaroni and cheese?” He pointed at the blue box. He had seen it in her pantry, come to think of it. 

“Cheese and pasta.” Piper looked down to see it on sale. “Grab like… ten of them.” This was related with a few other items. And she had him slide a big bag of wheat flour into the bottom of the cart. For as many as she was feeding she could bake bread for them all much cheaper. 

Pretty soon the cart was filled and she lead them to the register. Once they were wrung up, she paid, leaving Bofur biting his lip to keep from speaking out. He wasn’t sure if he would upset her by doing something inappropriate, so he stood by and smiled politely to everyone. That seemed safe. He walked out at her side and found himself stunned when she hopped onto the tailgate, crouching there to slide the rugs that she kept in there back in place after the dwarves had bunched them up. He was left with a beautiful view of her backside, that he couldn’t tear his gaze away from no matter how hard he tried. He had only noticed she was turning just in time, or so he prayed. 

Piper did, however, catch his gaze and she shook her head, somewhat amused. “Okay, pass bags up.” Holding her hands out, she had to bite back a grin as he tried to look unflustered. Silly dwarf. “So tell me, how do you think Thorin is taking this delay?”

Bofur frowned, having noticed she had opted to spend a lot of time with their king when she had the choice. He couldn’t deny that their leader was far more attractive than he was, and he was a king. Not a miner. A king. A powerful, strong, handsome king. Still, it twisted his gut up, even as he tried to reason that she couldn’t help the way her attention drifted. Humans didn’t have Ones. They didn’t feel the Pull. “I think he’s toleratin’ it because we won’t miss time.” He said with a shrug as he passed a bag up to her. 

“And you?” Piper asked, stowing the bag. 

Bofur found the words pouring from his face before he could stop them. “I’ve gotten t’ meet the most beautiful lass I’ve ever laid eyes on. An’ her charming son. I’ll never regret this adventure.” Once he said it, there was no going back. So he just lifted his deep chocolate gaze to her face, smiling warm and sincere. 

Piper nearly dropped the bag she had and turned to him with wide eyes and a flush on her cheeks. “Y-y-oh… beauti— oh Bofur you tease!”

“No’ at all, Piper.” He smiled, almost bittersweet. 

“Bofur… I… that’s very sweet of you.” She turned to sit, facing him, her legs hanging from the tailgate. “You really mean that?”

“Aye, every word. I really do, ye captured me heart away, amrâlimê.” 

Piper licked her lips and tucked her hair back, though it wasn’t long enough to stay behind her ear, the clip wasn’t doing its job. She was the flustered one now. “I… I don’t know what to say to that.”

The dwarf just gave her a wink and patted her knee. He saw other shoppers taking their empty carts to certain stalls and he pushed their cart to the nearest one. What are you thinking!? Just coming out and saying that!? Mentally he was stunned by his apparent bravery. Where has that even come from? But he turned and saw her, standing by the closed back of her truck, smiling at him with a shy sort of warmth in her expression and he knew. She brought that bravery to him. She brought it out in him. He wanted to do his utmost best for her sake. 

The two smiled and got into the truck, Piper started the engine, but left it parked. She hesitated a moment, licking her lips nervously before she spoke. “Look, it’s not that I don’t appreciate it, it’s just… you barely know me. That’s awfully certain… I don’t know what that word actually means, but the way you say it…”

Bofur reached over, setting his hand on hers and waiting until she looked at him. “I know yer kind don’t have it, but we dwarves have a One. In all’a creation there’s just One fer us. An’ we feel it the moment we see ‘em. The Pull. We could love no other. But it’s rare that we find our One. Most dwarves’re married to their work.”

Piper stared at him, her lips parted in shock. “Bo…”

He usually hated when people called him that, but when she did, it was cute. But not in that reproachful tone. “Aye?”

“Even… I mean… I believe you, but, how, you… I … we are literally worlds apart, Bofur!” She was still stunned by his admission. “You’ll leave…”

Bofur winced, that dark and painful thought he had been so far ignoring reared its ugly head. “Without much warning too, I’m afraid. An’ no clue how long we will be here.” Curse the Valar for giving her and taking her away. For making it so impossible, for making it so he would feel that heartache every day of his life without her. His jovial demeanor was gone, but he tried, for her, to smile. It didn’t reach his eyes. “I understand ye don’t feel this wa—!” He was cut off when she leaned over, and kissed his cheek. It brought a deep flush to his skin and he smiled, this time more honestly. 

“Give me time to adjust to that idea…” She said shyly. “And as for you leaving… we can cross that bridge when we come to it.”

The drive home was much like the way to town, easy conversation and laughter, however, whenever Piper didn’t need her hand to shift, it found its way to his. His hands were large and rough, and very warm. Her hands were cool, soft, and femininely slender. There were worries ahead, but for now they agreed to simply enjoy what time they were given. 

But time moves on, and those distant points on the horizon draw ever closer…


	6. Things Are Heating Up

Once the two shoppers had gotten home, they had little time to talk to one another privately, getting the groceries put away, Piper checking in on the logging team, and then supervising as her lawnmower was put back together as best as possible. She was even impressed when it started up a lot easier than it had before. Maybe she should let them take the snowblower apart too… 

Piper disappeared for a while, to a little hidden room at the top of the garage. It had been nothing more than storage when her family owned the place, but on some sort of whim she had turned it into a she-shed-like space. A retreat. There she pondered things over. Bofur, for the most part. This whole “One” thing was a little much. And while, when sitting at his side, it had seemed lovely, romantic, and exciting, reality began to fill her mind instead. He was from a different world. A storybook. He wasn’t even human, dwarves lived for such a long time compared to humans. It twisted in her heart to think of it. They could have now… but she would hurt him in the end. She didn’t come back down until it was nearly lunchtime. Her heart was still unsettled. 

Bombur had found her grandmother’s leather bound recipe book, and had been pouring over it with interest, and asked if they could try a few recipes he would never be able to pull off on the road. And in short order Piper was drawn into cooking with him in the kitchen, while Riordan hovered nearby for samples. He, unlike a few dwarves who were watching tv with fascinated awe, had grown bored of his shows once his mother had returned. She found herself marveling at how easy it seemed to fall into a routine after just one day. After a while they had a batch of oat-raisin muffins with a brown sugar crumble, and Riordan carried a basket of those out with his mother, while she hauled iced tea and lemonade pitchers, a stack of plastic cups under her arm, out to the dwarves cutting wood. 

Bifur spotted them first and rumbled something, reaching out to tap Dwalin’s back. The bald dwarf straightened and stopped the chainsaw. They all seemed to understand how potentially dangerous the powered saw could be and took extra care. All the dwarves seemed to perk up seeing the drinks and snack. And soon they had swarmed around to chug down the lemonade and tea, finding both refreshing and new.

“We’ve never had tea cold like this. Is it common for this world?” Thorin asked curiously, looking into his cup. He seemed somewhat intrigued, but quickly glanced around. Once he saw Dori was not in the group he added, “I think this is an improvement on regular tea.” He grinned at the human woman, rather conspiratorially. “But let’s not let Dori hear that.”

Piper laughed, shaking her head. “Oh, Thorin!” She finishes passing out cups and filling them before she refilled his. “How’s the wood cutting?”

Bifur rumbled some response while Thorin was draining the second cup, and Dwalin translated. “He wishes we had these fancy saws back home!” He couldn’t disagree with the other, he was certainly, in a way, enjoying this work. True, like their king he would have rather been back on their quest, but as Bifur had said earlier, if they had to be stranded at least they weren’t laying around uselessly. “Though, lass,” for a hardened warrior, Dwalin had moments where his eyes lit and shined, this time the amusement was clear. “Ye could have warned us that it makes yer arms go numb!”

“Only until you get used to it!” Piper defended herself with a grin. “Eat a muffin, you’ll feel better.” None of the dwarves complained. She set the pitchers down, going to look at the cut wood, one of them had found a maul and they had been splitting the wood as they went, quite efficient. 

Riordan stood close to Dwalin, peering up at him curiously. He smiled, shyly, when the dwarf looked at him. After a moment he found himself lifted to the rugged dwarf’s hip, and he was grinning while Dwalin finished his muffin, crumbs falling in his beard. The boy closely inspected the tattoos on the warrior, and reached up to run his slim finger over the cuffs on his ear. “You look scary, but you’re really not.” They boy said, without hint of question. “I bet you keep everyone safe.”

Somewhat startled by the observation, crystal blue eyes studying the young boy’s face widened slightly. Gradually he chuckled and nodded, “Aye, lad, I do my best.”

“Because you love them?”

Even Dwalin was not too gruff nor was he too proud to admit that the boy was right. “Aye. ‘Tis what ye do fer those that ye love. Protect them, if ye can.” After that the child’s attention was back on the bald head and the blue tattoos. He had a fond sort of smile on his face as he watched the boy, holding him protectively near. 

Thorin watched his friend and the child, his smile warm. The boy was well raised, obedient and polite, though still full of childish innocence and curiosity. It swelled his heart. This was why they were on this quest. So that his people could have a home, a safe place, to flourish and raise their children to be this way. A place they could live and become strong again. Many times, in their short stay, Thorin had felt his thoughts venture thusly as he observed the boy. If only this world were full of dwarves instead of men, he would extend an invitation to these two once Erebor was reclaimed, should the crossing be possible. Piper was the resourceful sort they would need in the rebuilding that would come later. And this dear child was the refreshing new life their people needed desperately. He had seen too many dimmed lights in the eyes of their people’s children, before Ered Luin had been settled. 

As he watched the child, whom he realized was asking Dwalin a seemingly unending stream of questions, Thorin drew himself from his thoughts. That’s when he saw Piper looking at him expectantly, and it dawned on him she had been asking him a question. With a sheepish bob of his head, he admitted, “I was lost in my thoughts, forgive me m’lady.”

“First of all,—”

“I know, I know. Piper.” The king grinned with roguish amusement. She would set her mouth the same way that Dís would when he annoyed her. Part of him felt how strongly he missed his sister, and part of him enjoyed riling Piper up. 

Rolling her eyes, Piper reached over to give his shoulder a push, hardly moving him. “As I was saying, I can bring my trailer over, so we can load it up directly.”

Thorin nodded, “That would be good.” 

“Well, Bombur has lunch nearly done. Why don’t you boys wash up and we can do that after we eat?” The woman smirked when she saw no objection from any of the dwarves. She gathered cups, pitchers, and the emptied basket while Bifur rescued Dwalin from the nonstop interrogation. Though there was a language barrier, Bifur slipped into a childhood version of signs, that more represent visible concepts, and such the two could understand each other fairly well. It helped that Bifur didn’t mind the child’s chattering. 

Piper lead them back to the house, seeing everyone was gathered around the table. Bofur was still sitting beside Riordan, and it both twisted in Piper’s heart, and gave her butterflies. He was so good with her son, but he would be taken away from them. Would Riordan be as hurt as she would? She wanted to protect him from that, so desperately. “Tomorrow, Rio and I have to be gone for a while.” She announced as she sat down, giving the boy’s head a ruffle as he whined. “Sorry buddy, but we been planning the trip for two months.” 

“Oh?” Thorin raised a brow as he took his seat. 

“Yeah, every year I take all of his clothes he’s outgrown and donate them, then we go to a big mall— market, thing, and he gets new clothes.”

“Mooom!” The boy whined. 

“Rio, you only have three shirts that fit! And one is so stained!” Piper shook her head, “and you put a hole in your last pair of jeans. Do your nice pants fit anymore?”

“I can put them on!”

“Yeah, and half your leg shows!”

While the mother and son bickered, the dwarves were grinning to each other, seeming to enjoy the rather mundane and adorable conversation. Some were thinking of their own families, be it their parents or children, some were daydreaming of their futures. Bofur was watching the boy with a grin, knowing he’d never win. 

“How ‘bout some company? Eh?” He asked with a grin. 

Piper’s nose twitched, but beyond that she showed no reaction. Which was telling in and of itself. 

“Bofur,” Thorin rumbled, seeing the woman’s face and having learned what it meant. 

“No, Thorin, he’s fine. Might be nice.” Piper reached over and gave the king’s shoulder a pat. “Who’s up for some shopping?” Well that question set the table into an uproar. Piper just sighed and ate her dinner. She caught Bombur’s eye, and smiled at him. “You followed the recipe perfectly!”

He grinned, winking at her. Once she had explained curry, and he had read through about five recipes, he had been more than eager to try it. It wasn’t exactly what she had expected, but the rich meatiness of it was a pleasant difference. And there were less vegetables and the woman saw Riordan was eating more than usual. Bombur seemed quite pleased that his meal was appreciated by their hostess, and the boy. Of course the other dwarves, between their so-called discussion, were downing it like there was no tomorrow. 

This continued until that evening off and on amidst everything else, most of the dwarves wanting to see this strange world. Piper had to leave them to their own devices, getting her logging team set up with her trailer and the chainsaws filled with gas for the next day, while she went back to working down in her basement. Riordan was used to her going to work for hours, there was a playroom down there, but it was nice that he had company and could let her work in peace. He spent the afternoon teaching the dwarves about Mario Kart. Which was an adventure in and of itself. Especially since he fell asleep part of the way through playing, and the dwarves took over. Ori was quite quick at learning how to make it work. 

It wasn’t until late that night that Piper finished with her project, and she slipped up to grab a bite to eat, helping Bombur make tacos. The dwarves seemed to like those quite a bit, though a couple found her salsa too spicy. Dwalin, quite red in the face, however, seemed to enjoy it a lot, and slathered his tacos until they were hard to see under the salsa at all. This prompted Piper into bringing out a jar of pickled habanero peppers, and there was a good laugh as the dwarves tried them.

“What…” Gasped Nori, “Would anyone want such a hot pepper for!?”

“They’re good!” Dwalin countered, biting down on his fourth pepper. He had a wicked looking grin on his face, though it may have been a grimace as the oil on the peppers left his lips tingling and burning. 

“It’s like eating fire!” Ori whimpered, having had his third glass of milk after one pepper. He winced and coughed a little, frowning as Dori patted his back. Trying to wave his brother off, he grumbled about being babied. That’s when he looked over and saw that Piper was eating the peppers about the same rate that Dwalin was. 

Bofur stared at Piper as she crunched happily through another pepper. His eyes were still watering from his first, and only, pepper. He kept absently wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. While he hadn’t complained about the heat, he certainly didn’t know why anyone would do that twice! But there was Piper, oh sweet, beautiful Piper, gentle as spring rain, and bright as a gem, chomping her way through them like a sweet candy! He stared, mouth agape, and turned to look at his brother, who was still very red in the face and gasping while he finished chewing, not noticing their hostess putting nearly all of them to shame.

Kili and Fili walked in, the older brother having had to escort his younger sibling to go hack up the pepper he had choked on when the heat got to him. “You’re a masochist, Piper!” He grinned, thumping her shoulder as the passed, while Kili slumped into his seat, embarrassed to be defeated by a vegetable.

Balin, who had wisely passed his pepper to his brother, was watching their king skeptically. Thorin was stone-faced, quiet, and his brows were knit together. He hadn’t spoken, and had swallowed the last of the pepper but moments ago. Most would think he was unaffected, save for the faint flush around his neck. Balin, however, had known Thorin for far too long to believe that. Thorin was just as bothered by the hot little pepper as anyone, and was doing his utmost to not show it. Balin guessed that Thorin had lost track of the conversation entirely by that point.

Sure enough, Thorin was staring at the table top, his eyes trying to follow the grain of the wood, a knot in particular keeping his attention. He tried to think of cool water, soft cheese, fine ale… any other flavor than the burn assaulting his tongue just then. He had no idea that the talk about who would go with Piper had continued on throughout all of their suffering these Mahal damned peppers. 

It was probably no surprise that Riordan turned his nose up at the peppers. What was a surprise was Bilbo eating a few of them, looking quite happy, even though his cheeks and nose turned a bright red. He caught Gloin’s curious look and he shrugged, “My father used to grow peppers this hot. Mother loved them.”

Dwalin looked curiously at their burglar, but eventually he gave the halfling a nod, seeming somewhat impressed.

Dinner finished up, and Dori and Piper went to wash everyone’s laundry, while the brothers Ur and their cousin cleaned up. Thorin slunk off with what was left of the milk after Ori had downed plenty, and he hid for a while trying not to obviously choke and cough in front of everyone as he attempted to quell the burning in his mouth. Dwalin came along to gloat, holding the jar of leftover peppers and munching at them the whole while.

The evening turned into quiet relaxation, each of the dwarves getting their turn at the shower as the hot water tank allowed. Riordan had a bath in Piper’s bathroom, since her master bedroom had its own bath. After that, Piper had set the dwarves down with some more appropriate music, listening and watching them react. They did seem to like folk songs a lot more than most modern music, which didn’t surprise her at all. 

“What about you?” Bofur asked, perched on the arm of the overstuffed chair she was sitting in. “What sort of music do you like?”

Piper shrugged, brows furrowing a little, as she ran her fingers through Riordan’s hair while he sat on the ground in front of her. “It’s hard to say, I sorta like a lot of different styles. Just a song here and a song there. I don’t think I really have a favorite type of music.”

Bofur smiled, nodding. He wasn’t sure what all there was to the types of music she knew, but he could understand appreciating a lot of different ones. “Do you play an instrument?”

“I used to play piano when I was a kid, my parents insisted on lessons. I hated it, and once I was old enough I quit.” She shrugged a little. “I always felt it was too stuffy of an instrument. I wanted something more fun, but my mom had it in her head that it was some sort of high class thing, and she wanted to better me.” She snorted softly. “She always had this attitude that we had to be better than everyone around us. Have the nicest stuff and throw the biggest parties. Sure it was fun, and we did have a lot of nice things, but I don’t think that we were better than anyone else. It was all for show.” She shook her head. “I’d rather have a poorer party with people I really care about than a nice party with people who only like me for the things I have.”

“That’s a fine attitude to have, lass.” Balin told her in a heartfelt tone. “Very fine.”

Piper smiled and ducked her head a little, before she looked up and saw Bofur’s face. He often had a little smile, warm and sweet, when he was looking at her. She caught it on his face now and then and it startled her. But now that he had explained, somewhat, the One thing, she thought she might have understood better. Maybe. It was still strange. Nice, but strange. “Well, half-pint, it’s about bed time for you, okay? Go wash up and get your toys picked up in your room.”

Riordan grumbled, but he knew better than to ignore her. So he hopped up and ran to the stairs. Stopping there, he had an idea and came back. “Can Thorin tell me a story tonight?”

Piper raised a brow in surprise, and she turned to the regal dwarf in question. 

Thorin’s face lit in a smile and he nodded, “I would be honored. Now, go do as your mother says.”

As the boy left, the two princely brothers chuckled and shared a look. Kili spoke up, “Uncle has the best bedtime stories. I remember them fondly. He would make our mother so mad though, because he could never find it in his heart to tell us no when we asked for another story.” 

“And we would take turns begging.” Fili added with a faint smirk.

“Now, why doesn’t that surprise me?” Piper teased, reaching her foot out to nudge Kili’s arm where he was sprawled relaxedly on the floor. “You two strike me as troublemakers, I can only guess it was ten times worse when you were kids.”

There were some chuckles around and things quieted. Bofur spoke up, “So, half-pint, that’s a cute nickname for him.”

Piper chuckled, “Yeah, my mother used to read me story books, and the little girl in the story got that nickname from her father. I started using it when Rio was around two I guess…” She shrugged and leaned back in the chair, settling in for a nice rest until she had to get up to check on Riordan. 

“Well, I’m stealing it when I have kids.” Fili said with a nod.

“Mahal save us all…” Dwalin muttered, rolling his eyes. “One of you was bad enough!” Laughs spread around the room and Fili scowled, elbowing his brother who broke into chuckles.

Soon Riordan shouted that he was done, and Thorin happily went off to tell him tales of great adventures of the dwarves. As much as he was comfortable sharing of course. 

Piper went after him, listening in for a little while to be sure her son was settling down and behaving himself, before she slipped off to the smaller living room, which was half library anymore. There was a bay window with thick cushions on it, and the trees had been cleared around it so that she could see the stars. Curling up on it, she stared up at the sky. Her mind couldn’t help but fall back to the dwarf that had become central to her thoughts over the last day or so. Ones. She was his One. What did that even mean for her? She couldn’t deny how easy it would be to fall in love with him, if she had the chance, he was so kind and uplifting. But did she want that in her life? She had done so much on her own, been so independent until now. It wouldn’t even last, he would be taken away from her, from them. She didn’t miss the way Bofur was taking a shine to her boy, sitting with him, helping him, and joking and laughing with the child. It was clear he was fond of her son. And the older that Riordan got, the more Piper questioned herself, in private of course, if she could be everything she needed to be for him. Certainly there were plenty of other single mothers who did just fine, but… could she be one of them? Could she give him all he needed? Help him learn everything that he needed to become a fine young man? She had spent so long taking everything day by day, one step at a time, it was hard to imagine so far ahead. She felt her heart racing with anxiety over it, and her head pulsed. Leaning the side of her head against the cool glass, she sighed and closed her eyes.

“Piper?” Came the soft inquiry.

Barely suppressing her jolt, Piper opened her eyes to look up at Bofur. “How do you move so quietly? Bilbo I would expect it, he’s a hobbit, but you dwarves are usually anything but quiet.”

The hatted dwarf grinned at her and winked, “Perhaps I’ve some hobbit ancestry? Or maybe I wasn’t quiet at all an’ yer thinkin’ too hard.” 

“Yeah… it’s probably the second one.” Piper relented after giving him a wry grin. “Bofur, I need to talk to you.” She turned a little to look at him, seeing understanding on his face. He didn’t interrupt, instead he let her go on. “I want to know what you want to do. I mean, we already surmised that you’re going home, and you’ll leave me behind. You’ll leave us behind. Rio’s fond of you too. I just… I don’t want to… I want…” She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. “I want to do what’s best for us, but I can’t help but want you too. And I don’t know what to do now.”

She wanted him? Bofur’s ear rang with her statement. She wanted him. Him! Every fiber of his being craved her, his heart called to her. But he had tried so hard to rein it in, knowing too well their situation. “I don’t want to hurt ye, lass. Or Rio. That boy is wonderful, an’... I can’t help but love him, too. But I can’t change how I feel ‘bout ye, even if I wanted to.” 

Piper nodded slowly, her eyes dropping down to the floor for a moment. “I’m not… some wild passionate girl, you know. I’ve been involved with a few men in my life, and I’ve never been that silly romantic hearted person. I like… I dunno, being content and comfortable with someone. I mean, if, if we had time to really build something I guess you’d find all of that out the normal way but…”

“But we have t’ work with what we have.” Bofur nodded, “An’ lass, tha sounds lovely.”

“I’m not really good at dating… oh uhm, courting,” She changed the word when she saw his confusion. “I’ve not kept a boyfriend for very long.”

“Boyfriend?”

Piper snorted, shaking her head. “Oi, language barriers. Uh… intended? Suitor? Something like that.” She was glad to see his look of recognition and his nod. “I suppose they wanted different stuff than I did in life, big aspirations and all of that. I just, want a quiet life, with good people in it, and to raise my boy safe and sound. I never really… felt any deep love for anyone I was involved with. Not like people describe in stories or they say about their spouses after being married for so long. Maybe I just never met Mr. Right?”

“Who?”

The woman tilted her head and smiled, her eyes starting to sparkle slightly. “My One. We don’t have One’s the way you do, but some people like to think we all have a soulmate out there somewhere. Be it a romantic one or a platonic, or sometimes one of each. Pretty sure I found my platonic soulmate in my best friend a few years back.”

“Where is she?”

Piper quieted and ducked her head, hiding her face. 

His heart twisted and Bofur sat down beside her, instantly slipping his arm around her. “I’m so sorry, Piper…” Drawing her against him, he was glad she leaned into him easily. 

After a moment to keep herself from crying again, Piper sighed, “We lost her five years ago. Cancer. It’s a very nasty disease, it destroys the body from the inside out. If it’s caught early sometimes it can be stopped, but… she didn’t even know until it was too late. I wish she’d gotten to see Rio. Oh she would have loved him, and been the most doting auntie!” Piper sniffed, turning to lean her head on his shoulder. Sitting with his arm around her, she realized it was no use, she was taken with him, and her attempt at avoiding it and putting this off had failed. “I miss her.”

“I had a very close friend, back when I was just startin’ work in the mines.” Bofur spoke, his voice a touch lower than usual, giving it a sort of gravely tone. “He was a wild one, a little like Nori sometimes, actually. Well we all got very drunk after our shift one day, an’ someone had this great big bull out in’na pasture. Well in our state we thought it was a great idea t’ go out an’ hop up on this thing. Oh, right mad beast… well Delrin climbed up on the fence an’ jumped right up there. He held on like a wild leech… for quite a while. But when the bull threw him, he got trampled. The healer said his lung was pierced by his ribs. He died some time later.” He didn’t realize when it had happened, but as he spoke, remembering it all, Piper had curled up against him, and slipped her arms around his middle. 

“I bet he would be awfully proud of you now, in the company of Thorin Oakenshield, on a grand quest. Even seeing another world.” She said soothingly.

“An’ meeting ye,” Bofur’s deep chocolate gaze rested on her face. “He was a romantic, went on an’ on he did, abou’ finding his One. I told him he was full o’ shale. But… I get it now.”

Before she thought, Piper leaned up and kissed him, sweet but long and lingering. She drew back and they both jumped when a throat cleared at the doorway. Piper blushed to see Thorin standing there, looking both concerned and uncomfortable.

“Riordan’s asleep.” He told her, turning an unreadable look at Bofur. Then he nodded curtly and turned away, walking off to sit with the rest of the company, aside from Bifur who was outside carving.

“Well…” Piper shook her head, “That’s out there now.” She chuckled and looked up at Bofur, expecting he was feeling nearly the same. She found his expression was pained, grimacing and looking nervous. “Bo?”

Blinking, he turned to look at her and tried to smile reassuringly. “I’m fine, I am.” And as if to prove it, he caught her lips in a rough kiss, drawing her tight to him, tipping her chin up and leaning into her. He couldn’t quite lean her back, the little bay seat now allowing room on her side, but he managed to kiss her passionately enough he felt her clutching his shirt and relaxing in his arms. That’s the way, he thought, before he drew back and watched her dazed expression with his dark eyes sparkling merrily. “Ye should get some sleep, though, if we’re to go on a trip tomorrow.” 

“Mmmhmm….what?” Piper blinked, her cheeks flushing in the dim light, and she slowly came back to her senses. Then she grinned at him, knowing he was doing that on purpose. “You cheeky dwarf!” Sitting up again, she leaned forward and pushed him back against the window, cupping his face and kissing him hard. She caught a startled look in his eyes before their lips met, and it thrilled her. The way he held her waist as she robbed him of his senses helped fuel her on as well. Then she had to come up for air, and did so as she stood up. “I’ll see you in the morning.” With a wink, she walked off, heading upstairs to her room.

Bofur watched her go, panting for air still and nodding. He swallowed hard, his lips quirking into a dazed sort of grin. The lass had some fire in her! He heard a noise outside of the window then, and turned his head to see Bifur outside clapping. Apparently his cousin had seen the whole thing. With a red face, Bofur signed something rather crude, and jumped up and away from the window. He slipped back into the room with the others and took up his spot for sleeping, laying down and setting his hat on his face, if only to hide the giant stupid grin. When he fell asleep, he couldn’t say. But his dreams were full of smiles and laughter and the feeling of this beautiful and strange woman in his arms. 

By morning he was awoken to the continued arguing over who would get to go on this trip that day with Piper. Apparently she had already gotten up, and told them that Bofur would be going, and she had set out the chainsaws for the day. She was out double checking on that while the dwarves discussed the trip, in their loud cacophonous way.

The “discussion” quieted eventually. Thorin and Balin had already gone out to town, and neither wanted to go again just yet. Bilbo stood out too much, though he was content to remain in the peaceful house. It ended up, as her truck would only hold so many, that Dori, Nori, Bofur, Fíli, and Kíli would be going along. Bifur very much wanted to see the shops, but agreed that with his axe ornamentation, he would draw too much attention. Nori begrudgingly agreed to take some of his braids out, so that he could fit a loose knit hat on his head. Dori voluntarily wore the matching hat, since both he and Ori liked it so much. Piper didn’t have the heart to tell them it was just some cheap acrylic yarn made to look fluffy. She ended up letting him keep it too. Kili actually did like this “man bun” style that Piper had shown him on her little magic “fohne” box, and he had his hair tied up in short order. Fili followed suit, amused by it, less amused when Dwalin gave him a pat down and divested him of a number of particularly dwarvish knives. Bofur once again left his hat behind, just as reluctantly as before. 

When the dwarves and her child were all ready to go, Piper helped them load up, glad to see the brothers remembered every step of putting Riordan in his booster seat, secure enough even she couldn’t complain, and they had themselves belted in. Bofur she had to remind about the belt as he slid in beside her. Nori squished into the back with the brothers and Riordan, he was more slender than most of the dwarves and could get away with it. And Dori sat by the window, fumbling with his seatbelt until Bofur finally showed him.

Secured and ready, Piper, Riordan, and the dwarves waved at Bilbo and the remaining dwarves before they pulled out of the driveway, headed off to a day of shopping at the mall in the next town over. It was only ten minutes into the drive that Piper began to wonder if this was really a smart thing to do, as Dori was giving Nori a dressing down about stealing anything.

“Nori… if you steal anything here, I’m responsible for you, not to mention if you’re caught, it would expose you all.” Piper joined in. “Please, please don’t cause Rio and I trouble.”

Shooting the woman a sharp look at playing such an underhanded trick as to use her son against him, Nori nodded. “Fine, fine. I’ll be on my best behavior.” 

Dori snorted, but had to take it at that, for there was little else he could do. “You’re sure we can’t shackle him?”

Piper chuckled, “No, ‘fraid not, we’re trying to not draw attention to ourselves.” She already had to worry about Riordan’s mouth.

“Mom, can we get cotton candy?” Riordan asked, “The big ones?”

“Sure but you have to share, you can’t eat a whole one yourself.” 

“I can too!” 

Rolling her eyes, Piper looked at the boy in the child mirror. “I mean you’re not allowed a whole one, that’s too much sugar and you turn into a hyper squirrel! We’ll get two and everyone can share. Okay?” She saw a complaint forming on his face, “Or we can get none at all.”

“Two is good!” The child quickly agreed, knowing full well his mother meant it when she threatened to get no cotton candy. He pulled out his book from the seat back and he and Fili went through reading it again to pass the time.

“What about those esp— yeah those.” Bofur had started to ask when he spotted the coffee stand ahead, and just laughed when Piper turned the wheel to pull into it before he finished his question.

And that was how Piper’s trouble for the day started. With caffeinated dwarves…


	7. Shopping Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A trip to the mall!

Filled with idle chatter and the surprisingly passive discovery of the radio, the trip to the mall was rather uneventful. Piper mistakenly took that as a sign for the rest of their day. Now that she sat on the tailgate, head in her hands, she realized how very wrong she had been. The trouble started with the brothers. 

No, it started the moment their feet had hit the pavement!!

The dwarves had piled out of the truck, hitting the car beside them with the door. Piper ushered them all out, slipped between the vehicles to inspect the damage. Luckily it was minimal and she eyed the rest of the car, already full of dings and small scratches. A soccer mom sticker on the back window explained a good part of that. She lead the group on from there, hoping that was the last of their troubles, but not naive enough to think so. 

“Stay together.” She cautioned and told Riordan to stay close as well. And then she trotted ahead to turn and watch the faces of her new friends as they walked through the doors into the mall. Oh they were great! Uncertain, then curious and excited, almost overwhelmed. And she took note of a bright deviousness in Nori’s eyes, catching them and frowning. He ducked his head and smiled. “Okay, first clothes for Rio, then we can go exploring, alright?” And rather like a mother duck, she lead her ducklings to Old Navy, having to quietly prod them along now and then. Though Bofur was at her side, and she slipped her hand in his, the two smiling to one another. She noticed that as they walked they garnered a few strange looks, but either the smug confidence of the dwarves or her own sharp expression kept the other shoppers at bay. 

She wasn’t at all surprised to find the dwarves were eager to dress her boy, finding their own ideas of what he should wear from the racks. Riordan was soon overwhelmed and she had to filter through what they brought for him. 

“Guys! He’s going to be sitting in class all day! Not hiking over mountains!” She laughed, shaking her head as the Fíli, Kíli, and Nori went to put the outdoors gear back. She urged Riordan through picking out a new wardrobe, and all of the little necessities, including a new backpack, that Dori poured over for a while. He loved the design and the numerous pockets and spaces for holding things. 

“Mooooooom!” Riordan groaned, bored with shopping. “I’m hungry!”

“Okay, let’s pay for this and we can go to the food court.” And she ushered the group to the register, getting everything purchased, not missing Nori getting a pat down by his brother. Once they were rung up, and Nori was declared free of stolen goods, they proceeded on. 

Riordan grasped his mother and Bofur’s hands, pulling them on. “C’mon!!! Cotton candy!”

“Ah, lad, sweets after lunch!” Bofur laughed, watching the boy fondly. He wasn’t sure what cotton candy was, but he knew candy. With a brother like his, he knew it quite well. It was probably the fact that Bofur never went past a third helping that he wasn’t as rotund at Bombur was. “Now, why don’t ye tell yet mom somet’ing healthy an’ good fer a growin’ lad t’ eat before dessert?”

Riordan hesitated, looking between his mother and the dwarf. “Uhm… Chinese?”

“That’s fine.” Piper nodded and lead them on, up the stairs, to the food court. “Bo, could you get everyone to a table and I’ll order food. Rio, help them okay?”

“Alright!” Rio bounced over, taking Nori and Fíli’s hands and lead them to a big empty table in the food court. She quickly ordered from the Chinese place, then while that was being prepared she went and ordered a meatball pasta from the Italian counter, and four large plates of wings from the barbecue joint. A few employees brought trays over, and she, Bofur, and Kíli grabbed others. 

Piper was getting Rio’s plate filled when she looked up and saw the dwarves were pondering over the chopsticks in between attacking the more recognizable foods. Most of the Chinese food was untouched until Piper started eating it. “It’s mostly breaded meat, fried, and coated in sauce.” She picked up her chopsticks and started chowing down. 

Bofur watched her in open-mouthed amazement as she managed to fill her mouth with food, using a pair of twigs! “Lass, how’d ye?!” He picked up another pair, and pulled them apart as he had seen her do, then tried to hold them the way she was. 

Pretty soon the other dwarves followed suit and were all trying to feed themselves with chopsticks, though they weren’t sticking to just the Asian cuisine. Kíli did manage to get quite a few meatballs, though only by stabbing them. Dori seemed to manage by winding noodles around and around his set, slurping them down quickly. Nori had tried for a while before abandoning them in favor of a fork. Watching the others, Fíli silently declared the whole idea a farce and amused himself watching the others as he filled himself with chicken wings, rather liking these little packaged wet napkins, it kept the sauce off his moustache braids. 

Piper watched her new friends and their varying degrees of success, and she reached over to nudge Dori’s elbow, pointing towards Nori. The younger Ri brother had a piece of yakisoba noodle in his hair, half stuck to one braided eyebrow. Dori pounced on him to clean his brother up, fussing over him. Grinning at Bofur, Piper and her dwarf shared a quiet chuckle. 

Bofur, for his part, was having difficulty not dropping the chopsticks as he ate. But he felt determined, as he saw the four year old child managing to eat with them. However, when he saw Piper was finished and he was only halfway through his first plate, he set them down and raised a brow at her. “These’re a good way t’ starve a body!” He grinned and picked up his fork, devouring his orange chicken. He wasn’t sure why it was called that, as it was more brown in color than orange, but Piper had apologized it wasn’t as good as the chicken back in her hometown. Still, it was good, but he preferred the curry from the night before. “Is there anything else to get today?”

“Nope,” Piper shook her head. “Just had to get the rest of Rio’s summer clothes, we’ll do this again when I need to buy his winter things. He’s growing so fast at this age, nothing lasts for two years!” She reached out and ruffled her son’s hair affectionately. Then she turned back to Bofur and had to bite her lip, before passing him a few napkins. “Sauce.”

They finished their lunch, much calmer than they did at her home, since the dwarves were naturally distrusting of strangers, and the food court was overflowing with them. 

“Cotton candy!” Riordan insisted when the last tray was taken care of. He bounced on his toes, tugging on his mother’s arm. “Please please pleasepleasepleaseplease!” Big eyes peered eagerly up at her, lower lip jutting out. 

“Fine, Fine!” Piper laughed, glancing at their merry group. The dwarves all insisted upon carrying the bags for her, so Riordan’s clothes and their scant leftovers were handled. So she took her son’s hand and they walked down between the shops and kiosks to reach the cotton candy stand. “Two please!” She chirped as they came up to order. “Your biggest.”

The man smiled and nodded and soon began crafting big colorful flowers from layers of cotton candy, wound around each other and expertly shaped. He asked for flavor suggestions from his list and a few were called out. 

Bofur watched with fascination, slipping his heavy paw around Piper’s hand. “By my beard, I wish Bombur could see this!”

“Oh?” Piper pulled her phone out and began to record, moving to the side when a large group of students passed by. She was jostled a little and nearly dropped her phone but managed to recover. Out of habit she checked her purse and found it still zipped. While she had grown up in her hometown she had gone to college in a larger city and learned a few things about theft, having been the victim. Once the large decorative cotton candy flowers were handed over, they all admired them for a few moments, Piper insisted on getting pictures of every dwarf holding them, Riordan and Bofur together in their photo. “Okay, Nori. Nori?” She looked around and couldn’t spot him. 

Dori’s head whipped one way and then the other in search of his miscreant brother. “Nori!” He called, then muttered something under his breath, switching to Khuzdul for the sake of the child and lady with them. Kíli’s jaw dropped at whatever he said. 

“Shit, he’s not here,” Piper growled, still looking around. She squashed down the panic she felt rising in her gut. She lost a dwarf. A middle earth dwarf. In the mall. This was horrible! Grasping Rio’s hand she pulled him along, planting him firmly between the Durin brothers. “Fíli, Kíli, you’re in charge of Rio. Bofur, you and Dori head back to the food court, it’s upstairs, so you can see around. I’m going to head down the way we came, then back this way. You three stay here! He was here when we ordered because he asked for lemon flavor. That’s the last time I saw him for sure. He may come back. Don’t lose Rio!” And she turned on her heel and trotted off. 

Bofur smiled to the boy, winking and giving him a pat on the shoulder, “No worries, lad, eat yer candy with these two rascals.” Then he firmly grabbed a sputtering Dori, and towed him along to the food court again. They parked on the railing, a little ways from each other so they could see down all of the corridors below them. “I don’t see him!” He hissed, shaking his head. 

“Shouldn’t have let him come!” Dori frowned remorsefully. “He’s always causing trouble!” The eldest of the Ri brothers cut off into a string of curses that he would have washed Ori’s mouth out with soap had the youngest of them said anything remotely similar. 

Glancing over, Bofur felt his brows raise, realizing where Nori got it from. “He’s here, somewhere.” He assured Dori, though his dark eyes returned to the crowd below. He could just make out Piper’s bright hair down one long corridor, but nowhere could he spot their wayward friend. Mahal, where did that tricky dwarf get to!? From the corner of his eye he saw Fíli leaning down to talk with Riordan, and he looked back to the three there. The boy seemed upset, and the miner could only imagine he was reading the mood off of everyone else. Poor kid. Part of Bofur desperately wanted to run down there to reassure the boy, and comfort him. He couldn’t tell if that was his own fondness for little ones or if it had to do with the fact the child was Piper’s. It was nearly unheard of for widowed dwarrowdams to remarry, not due to any rules or traditions, but once you lost your One… everything else was pale by comparison, and most had enough extended family that it wasn’t necessary. Now and then a widow who married for reasons other than her One might remarry if she found them, but it was rare, rarer yet she had children. As common as siblings were, in the lifespan of dwarves, children were always a welcome miracle. Not every marriage resulted in offspring. But when they did marry again, the children were adopted by the new husband as their own. He could understand the ease in which that happened. Riordan was Piper’s, Piper was his One. He wanted the boy as much as he did the woman, each in their own way. It would break his heart to leave them… 

Jerking himself from his thoughts, Bofur scanned the crowd again. For a second he thought he spotted him, but the figure turned out to be a boy dressed in something akin to what Nori was wearing. 

“Here comes your lass, he must not be that way.” Dori sighed, turning to face the other direction 

Bofur nodded, seeing Piper trotting back. He watched her pause at the three waiting below, checking in briefly before she went the other way, and he too turned the direction Dori had faced, and watched her trot into the ambling crowd again. “Pity, about the handcuffs.”

Dori snorted and grumbled something under his breath. “Oh he’s gonna get it when we find him!” He growled after that. 

“Just leave him in one piece, we have a quest t’ finish.”

Dori side eyed Bofur, “Yes… we do. How are you going to handle that?” Bofur was a good deal younger than he, and fast friends with his brother, so he’d taken to looking out for the rapscallious miner. “She’s your One.”

“Aye.” Bofur’s reply was terse, his face falling into a grim set line. “Aye, she is. An’ when we go back I’ll see this quest finished an’ me oath fulfilled.” 

“And then?”

Bofur turned to Dori, a sort of haunted look in his eye. “One step at a time.” 

Unease filled Dori’s gut and he started to turn to Bofur when they both caught sight of Piper waving at them, and hauling Nori by his shirt front. Their lost lamb was found! “Bless it!” Dori dashed for the stairs, thundering down to meet them. 

Bofur watched her, the dark traces fading from his expression as he observed her fondly. His sweet beautiful One. Piper. 

“Mom! You found him!” Riordan spotted his mother and, cotton candy in hand, sprinted towards her. He caught up and came to walk beside her, grinning up at her and the dwarf. “Oh boy, we sure thought you were lost Mr. Nori!”

“Me? Lost? Never!” Nori winked at the boy with his roguish grin. 

“Then just where were you!?” Dori, who caught up by that point, snapped at his brother. 

Nori ducked his head sheepishly then, “Sorry, I just saw them and I… well I couldn’t let them get away with it!” He reached out and opened his hand to show a thin silver bracelet. 

“That’s mom’s!” Riordan exclaimed, bouncing on his toes. 

Fíli and Kíli shared flabbergasted glances, then looked skeptically at Nori, but stayed quiet for now. 

“Yeah, that group came by and I saw one slip it off her. I just followed them and took it back.” Nori shrugged, handing it back to Piper. “And just that,” he added quickly to his brother. 

Piper was quiet, taking it back and holding it in her hands for a moment before she brought it close to her chest. “It was my grandmother’s… she gave it to me before she died.” And in the next moment she stepped up to Nori and embraced him tightly. “Thank you. I didn’t even notice it was gone.”

Nori was taken aback at first, but hearing the tightness in her voice he understood and patted her back, setting his arms loosely around her. “No worries, lass. You’re practically one of us, couldn’t let anyone do that to ya.” Then he sighed. “Okay… I lied, I did take something, but they never noticed. I swear!” And dig into his pocket and brought his hand up to show a number of zipper pulls, likely off of a backpack. “I had to get some revenge.”

Even Dori had to laugh with the others at that. He approved of that small measure at least. 

Piper stepped back as Bofur slipped his arm around her waist and she let Kíli clasp the delicate little bracelet back onto her wrist. “Well, that was an exciting day.” She chuckled, looking down at Riordan and wiping dried sugar from his cheek. “Didn’t we have two cotton candies?”

“Oi!” Kíli cried, “You little sneak, you ate one while we weren’t looking!” 

Riordan shrugged, “Oops.”

Piper rolled her eyes at her son. “We should get going. I’m sure the others are worried.” She ordered a third cotton candy and herded her little pack of dwarves together. Though she didn’t rush them through the mall, letting them stop at windows and peer in, or step in to inspect whatever items they saw. They all loved Burlington Coat Factory, and Piper went in with them. She thought it over, knowing what situations they would be encountering. So she purchased thirteen adult sized sets of under armor thermal wear, and one child sized set for Bilbo, along with a nice silk handkerchief. 

Bofur saw the little addition and he raised a brow, but thought perhaps the hobbit had mentioned it to her. They divvied up bags and were off again. 

Passing Kay Jewelers, she knew the dwarves would stop for a look, and she lingered out of the way. 

“Piper, why don’t you have any more jewelry you wear? Surely you fancy something pretty?” Kíli questioned as he stood near her, looking up from a display of earrings. 

“I have a few, for nice occasions but, I don’t wear a lot for every day stuff. Just this.” She indicates her grandmother’s bracelet that Nori had saved. “And if the metal isn’t quality it makes me break out, and leaves residue on my skin.”

“Ah, I hear that is pretty common among menfolk.” Kíli smiled and went on looking. “They don’t have beads…”

“Not dwarves,” Piper quietly reminded him. 

“Yeah,” he looked up at her sheepishly. 

The little group moved on, Riordan starting to skip about. He held Bofur’s hand and bounced around, the dwarf seemed to enjoy his enthusiasm, and had a sharp eye when it came to avoiding obstacles. So Piper didn’t object and simply watched them fondly. How happy they both looked! 

“You’re quite taken with him.” Nori observed from her side. 

“I am.” Piper admitted, surprising herself with how easy it came out. “It’s strange.”

“Not really. You’re his One. And, maybe in a way… he’s yours.” He reached up, adjusting his hat, as though it itched upon his head. He didn’t like wearing it. 

“That may be… but, soon you’ll leave, and he…” She trailed off, a lump forming in her throat. Blinking away sudden tears that threatened to spill she found herself startled by the intensity of her reaction. “I don’t know what I’ll do. I wish it… I wish he wouldn’t be hurt. Rio and I can manage, we always have.”

Nori watched her, studying her face. The poor thing. She was trying to be strong in front of him, he could see that. But he knew she was hurting terribly. “He will never forget you. And he will always remember the joy you’ve brought him. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen him this truly happy. Bofur is very good at keeping morale up, but he doesn’t always think of his own happiness first.”

Piper knew he meant well, but her heart only ached all the deeper. “Nori,” they were behind the others and she stopped to look at him. “Please look out for him. Help him. You two are friends, that much I can see. Help him when I can’t.”

Nori felt his own eyes mist, and he nodded with an expression of fierce determination. “For you, lass, of course.”

“For him. He’s the one I worry about.”

The now-hatted dwarf nodded again. “How lucky he is to have such a woman to care for him.”

Piper chuckled and nudged his shoulder. “Very sorry I don’t have a sister to set you up with.” And she grinned when the dwarf laughed loudly. It drew some stares but she didn’t mind. 

They spent a little more time looking around and Piper bought them all soft pretzels to munch on. Then she declared it time to leave, before the Durin brothers could venture into Hot Topic, and they trekked back to the truck. She walked comfortably with Bofur, their hands linked as they went. Riordan was at first walking with his mother but moved to hold Bofur’s other hand. She saw the dwarf light up, and couldn’t think of when she had seen him so very happy. If only he could stay. 

The trip back was uneventful, aside from the sugar kicking in, along with the espresso lingering in the dwarves from that morning. Riordan was talking a mile a minute, but the Durin brothers were easily keeping pace. Dori didn’t know if he should be mad or not at his brother, so he settled for scowling out the window, but soon it faded to amazement at their speed, again watching the scenery.

Nori seemed quite pleased with himself, though he suspected should this story get to Thorin he would have an earful. He pulled out his lock pick set and began to fiddle with them, checking the tips and straightening them. 

Bofur, for his part, was happily talking with Piper. “So there’s an entire shop fer shoes, o’ all sorts, but they don’t do repairs?”

“Ah, not really. Some leather boots can get repairs but mostly when shoes wear out we just buy new ones. Or in Rio’s case as he grows. But we have a decent place in town to get shoes. Rio prefers boots anyway.” Piper shrugged. “If we had more time, it would have been fun to check out more of the shops, but we got a later start than I hoped for.”

They continued on, the others chiming in now and again, asking Piper about the mall, shops, and other topics. She answered as best she could. All in all she enjoyed the conversation, as did her companions. 

They returned home to find Bombur had toasted bread with melted cheese, soup, and pan grilled chicken, and he had done his best with the carne asada meat that Piper had. They ate heartily and the dwarves gathered in the den, and struck up a series of songs, their way of including Piper and Riordan in their world, as she had included them. 

She and Bofur spent a nice hour or more, secluded in the library, mingling kisses and Piper curling up against him, reading a book of mythology to him. He enjoyed it and held her close to his side, letting her nestle into his arms. While she read she reached back to absently stroke his hair and the long ends of his mustache. Bofur felt his heart race, and might have told her just what she was doing to him with that action, but he didn’t want to ruin the moment. No one was around, he had checked out the window before he settled in with Piper. No more surprise audience. The more she touched him the more his thoughts drifted to other exciting activities he wanted to whisk her away for. But with a house full of dwarves and her still sugared up son, he knew better and he contented himself with their nearness. Turning his head, he nuzzled into her brightly colored hair. Up close he could see the roots, which were a more natural shade and that verified his suspicion it was artificially colored somehow. He wondered for a moment how he thought it suited her more this way. She was bright and exuberant in his eyes and heart. I’m so short a period he knew she had his heart, wholly and totally. And he couldn’t wish for anything better. 

Piper finished the tale she was on and set the book down. “It’s late,” she murmured, leaning back against him. She showed no sign of moving. 

“Aye,” He replied in the same soft tone. And he simply held her near, supporting her body against his. It wasn’t long until he felt her breathing had evened out and she had fallen asleep in his arms. With a little wiggling of one foot he drew over the cast off throw blanket that had been on the cushions and he laid it over her, careful not to jostle and wake her. Then he closed his eyes and laid his cheek on her hair. Soon he too had drifted to sleep, warm, and happier than he’d ever been. 

If only these things could last.


	8. Together as One

Beside the bay window the early dawn light illuminated a gentle scene, long before the rest of the inhabitants of the house woke. Piper had woken up at the first soft light, and snuggled to Bofur’s side, gently stroking his mustache and beard, content with his presence. It was nice, waking up with him, and it gave her heart a rush the moment she was awake enough to remember he was there. 

Bofur woke to a different rush. A low groan passed his lips before he opened his eyes. He felt Piper at his side, and a strong arm curled around her waist to draw her against him. “Lass,” his voice was thick, between sleep and the stirrings she was awakening in him. He opened one eye to peer at her. She was beautiful, her hair a mess, her expression warm and still sleepy. Mahal she was a vision! “Ye don’ know wha’ yer doin’ t’ me…”

Just the husky sound of his voice gave her an idea of what exactly he meant. Piper’s soft smile curled into a slow burn, wicked grin. “Oh?” She shifted her hips to press against him, which left her very aware of his arousal. 

That was all Bofur needed, he pulled her close, crushing her against him as he claimed her lips fiercely. For a while the two dragged clothes and covers away, until he stood, bare to his boots, and she was left in the littlest and cutest underwear he had ever seen. They were a pastel blue lace, and hugged the scrumptious curve of her hips just perfectly. It was a sight that he would carry with him until his last breath, she was stunning. His eyes took in a small line of a scar on her stomach, but he filed that away for later. Drawing her near, he touched her, gentle and reverent. “Piper, amrâlimê… yer beautiful.”

“Bo…” she felt a little shy, almost nervous. She had, of course, been with other men, but none that had meant anything to her like this. In such a short time he made her feel like every romantic inclination she had ever had in her life was a pale excuse. “Make love to me.”

Bofur suddenly looked conflicted. “Lass… if I were t’ leave ye wit’... I mean… If we, if ye became…”

Piper’s brows furrowed and she watched him curiously. Did he not want her suddenly? No, it was something else, otherwise she wouldn’t be straddling his naked lap, with his sizeable erection grinding against her. Then was it cultural perhaps? Leave her with… OH! Realization dawned on her and she chuckled. “Bofur, for the moment I can’t actually get pregnant. I take a medicine that prevents that. Though I take it for other reasons.” She shrugged. “But thank you, for the concern.” She leaned forward and kissed the tip of his nose. 

“Ye wonderful wit’ Rio, but I’d hate t’ leave ye t’ raise me bairn alone.” Bofur smiled at her, his hands kneading the plump flesh of her backside. “So… it’s safe then?”

“Yes, love.”

That was all the dwarf needed to hear. In an instant he was upon his woman, his mouth on her flesh as his hands gently guided her back into the cushions of the bay seat. She was a vision below him, and he paused for a moment, just taking it in. The sunlight cast a glow on her skin, and the bright gemstone hair, and she looked like a gift from the Valar. He reached her eyes and saw, and it stirred his heart to surging, the same look of deep tender love. With a slow breath, he thanked every star and Valar he could imagine, before he delved into her. 

There were sounds of the others stirring in the house by the time the two lay in a panting heap, trailing soft caresses on each other’s skin. Piper shivered in his arms and he drew the cover over them again. “We’ll have t’ get up.” He said quietly against her hair. 

“Mmmmhmmm…” Piper agreed, still reeling from her very much muffled orgasms. Plural. 

“Before tha’,’ could… could I braid yer hair?” He asked cautiously, silently begging she would say yes. 

Piper lifted her head, “The way you’re saying that, it means something, doesn’t it?”

“Aye, we dwarves wear courtship braids, an’ eventually marriage braids, signifying our love.” Bofur explained briefly. “Remember Glóin’s braid?”

“Yes, I do. Well… I don’t have a lot to work with.” She sat up, keeping the blanket around her against the cold. “Do I get to braid yours?” There was a faint note of hopefulness in her voice. 

“Aye!” Bofur’s eyes lit, so very happy she was in agreement. “Though… I’d understand, after we’re, after I’m gone if ye… if…” he swallowed thickly. 

“No, Bofur. I’ve found my One. Even if you’re not here, my heart will go with you.” It sounded cheesy when she said it, but she meant it, and it brought tears to his eyes. “Let’s not think about that. Where do I put your braid?”

“Lemme do yers first, it’s traditional.” He scrubbed the back of his hand over his eyes and blinked away the tears her words had brought to them, then he began to gently work his fingers through her hair. Ideally he would brush it first, especially after tangling it up so deliciously. But it was short enough he was able to tame it with his fingers. Carefully he selected strands of it, and wove them into a simple braid. She would have to redo it herself in the future and he didn’t want to make it too complicated. Taking his earring off, he slipped the bead from the chain off, and used that to bind her braid. “This bead was me mothers. Traditionally I’d make ye one o’ yer own, but…”

“Would she… have approved? I mean, me being human.” 

“Human?”

“Of the race of Men.”

Bofur laughed and held her near, “Oh, aye, fer many years her best friend was a ‘human’ lass. We called her Aunt Talia.” In Khuzdul they had, but he translated for Piper’s sake as usual. “She would love ye. And Rio. As I do.”

“I hope she wouldn’t love me the same way you do!” Piper teased, passing her hand over his lower half. 

Bofur roared with laughter, and pulled her into a happy kiss. 

“I don’t have a bead…” Piper frowned a little. She looked around and spotted her favorite book, on the little table beside the bay window. There was, between the pages, a bookmark she had made years ago, that had charms dangling from it. She arched back and grabbed it, leaving Bofur with an eyeful. Taking the little charms off she looked through them. There was a heart with a Celtic knot design on it, and she selected that and the ring that it hung on. She turned to him and separated a section of hair for a braid, weaving the charm into his hair, explaining she had made the bookmark years ago, having purchased the supplies on a vacation. She bound it off, using a bit of string. “I have something better to secure it, but not in here.” 

The door opened, and Bofur instinctively drew Piper close and pulled the cover over her. 

Thorin looked in as he opened the door and his face reddened when he realized what he had walked into. “My apologies… but breakfast is ready.” Shutting the door firmly behind him, his quick steps were heard leaving the door. 

Bofur and Piper looked at each other in silent surprise for a few seconds before they both burst into laughter. They gathered and pulled on their clothing again, Bofur helping Piper dress like a gentleman, and Piper grazing his skin and leaving kisses on his body while he tried to cover himself, like a tempting little minx. 

“Ahh, lass,” Bofur sighed as he held her, feeling her lips against his neck. He knew she had left more than a couple of love bites there, which he wore proudly. “If ye don’t stop we’re gonna miss breakfast.” And he gave her backside a playful swat, chuckling when it made her squeak. “C’mon! I dunno ‘bout ye, but I’ve worked up me appetite!”

“Mmm I’ve got one, though not for food,” Piper purred as she passed by him to the door. Looking back she caught him staring at her with a crooked grin and a dazed look. Giggling she shook her head. “Bo, breakfast!”

Bofur gave himself a shake all over, and grinned sheepishly as he caught up to her and they made for the kitchen. They were spotted by Thorin, who to his credit only turned red around the collar. The others noticed them a second later, and there were more than a few smug looks. Dori wrinkled his nose and passed a small satchel of coin to Nori. The star haired dwarf winked when he caught Piper’s curious gaze. 

Bombur set two big plates before them with a smile, he seemed very pleased for his brother, and though there were no formal arrangements, the woman he now considered a sister. 

Talk resumed among the dwarves, more than a few glances were sent towards the couple, but even the most immature of the group had enough manners pounded into their head to keep comments to themselves now. Riordan, however, had yet to learn that. 

“Are you mom’s boyfriend now?” The boy asked over his plate of bacon and eggs. 

Bofur was puzzled and turned a querying look on Piper. 

“He’s asking if we’re courting,” Piper translated with a warm and amused smile. “Yes, half-pint. Is that alright?”

“Yeah, he’s cool!” Riordan grinned and kept eating. 

Bofur beamed, having learned before that “cool” was a good thing. He very much liked being “cool”. “Aye, lad, ‘tis why yer mum an’ I wear these new braids.” He showed the boy, and Piper did as well. 

“Not fair! Moooooom I wanna grow my hair long!” Riordan whined, looking between the two adults. He pouted at the wave of quiet laughter that went around the table. 

“If you wash it and keep it clean.” Piper promised, “Then you can grow it out.”

“When I’m a grown up I’m gonna have a big beard too!” That time the laughter made him grin. He liked the number of comments approving of his announcement. 

“I bet you will, lad!”

“Right good it will look on ya!”

“Very handsome you’ll be!”

Piper was pleased that this new change seemed to go over well, even if she couldn’t get Thorin to look her in the eye. She’d corner her friend later. For now she ate her breakfast with gusto, and helped Bombur pass the coffee pot around. The dwarves, aside from Dori who was abstinent, were fast coming to like this modern roasted coffee. The coffee back in Middle-Earth was less flavorful and more bitter. She already had a care package she was sending with them, that had ground coffee in it. 

Bilbo, somewhat quiet at his seat, had a sort of sad look in his eye. Everyone seemed so happy, for Bofur and Piper, but he couldn’t help but think ahead. The poor woman would be so devastated when they had to leave. And Bofur would be crushed. He thought the cheery hatted dwarf was quite nice, and it worried the hobbit how this would change the miner-toy maker. 

Bifur grunted something to Bombur, and the larger dwarf smiled. “Bifur says he’s got something for Rio.”

Piper smiled, knowing what. “Rio, hon, your fire engine got broke on accident.”

“I thought I lost it!”

“No, but Bifur made you something to say sorry.” She explained as Bifur rose and walked over, and set a little shoe box Piper had supplied for him, in front of the boy. 

Riordan didn’t need any urging, he pulled the lid off and his jaw dropped. Inside was a sturdy and detailed little cart, drawn by a ram. He pulled it out and set it on the table. “It’s so cool!” 

Bifur grinned widely, and leaned in to show Riordan the little wooden gear inside the cart, and how to wind it. With a quiet clatter the ram began to walk, pulling the cart along. 

Piper’s eyes widened and she watched the cart and ram move. “Bifur, that’s amazing!” She had expected something simplistic, nice but ordinary. This was stunning. 

Bifur looked up at her and smiled warmly. He said something and bowed. 

“Thank you,” Bofur translated. 

Riordan jumped up and hugged the axe-headed dwarf excitedly. “Thank you! Thank you!”

Bifur held the boy in return, his eyes misty. This was what he loved best about his profession. The joy in the children’s eyes. 

Piper was leaned forward so as to study the little toy. “Rio you have to promise to be very gentle and take care of it. It’s very special.”

“I promise! Can I go play?” Rio practically bounced in place like a bunny. 

“Put your plate in the kitchen first.” Piper said, watching him sprint off with his empty plate.

Bifur let the boy go and said quite a bit to his cousin. 

Listening, Bofur nodded, his gaze dropping to the toy before the child ran back and carefully picked it up, running off to play with it in the other room. He turned to Piper to explain. “Bifur says he wasn’t sure if it would work here. See, we dwarves have very little magic, compared to elves fer instance, but we have our rune magic, tha’ is used fer mechanical things. Toys being one o’ ‘em.”

“Aye, the toys sold in the Dale market in days gone by, were something of a wonder.” Balin agreed quietly. 

Bofur nodded and kept going. “We use the same, on a larger scale, in the mines an’ great forges. They only enhance what the machines can do. Keeps ‘em workin’ better.”

“I didn’t know that.” Bilbo piped up, sounding shocked. 

“It’s not something we discuss often with outsiders, laddie,” Balin explained with his kindly smile. “It’s not a heavily guarded secret, exactly, but it’s rarely discussed. I think mostly out of habit.”

“But you don’t have mages or sorcerers then?” Piper asked. 

“Once,” Thorin said slowly, wiping his face on his napkin, “in a very long while a dwarf is born that can do some magic like that. None since before the fall of Erebor though.”

“And,” Balin interjected, “They usually have some ancestry outside of our kind.”

A few glanced between Bofur and Piper. 

Piper tilted her head thoughtfully. “So a pair like Bofur and I aren’t unheard of?” Her hand moved to slip into his. 

“No, just rare. And it doesn’t always mean magic. Well, not real magic,” Balin said with a teasing wink. 

Piper’s face warmed, and narrowed her eyes at him, grinning. “Cheeky dwarf!” A round of laughter greeted her comment. 

Conversation continued lightly until breakfast was finished and cleaned up. Piper shooed the dwarves out of her kitchen and did the washing up. She wanted time to think things over. The Ur family went out to aid the wood cutting crew, while the Ri brothers kept Riordan entertained. Fíli and Kíli were out hiking about and practicing swordplay. She lost track of Glóin, but the two eldest dwarves were chatting, settled on comfortable couches in the living room, and Bilbo sat with them. 

The woman slipped up to her room, showered and changed, and sat, feeling the short braid in her hair. She left it in and dried it carefully. Falling back on her bed she let out a deep sigh as a thought swirled around in her head. How to go about this plan she was forming, and how to do it right. Or as right as they were able. 

She dozed off after a while, the early morning activity catching up to her. When she woke, somewhat startled she had fallen asleep in the first place, she checked the clock and jumped out of bed. She almost crashed into Thorin on her way out of her door. He was carrying a plate of the lunch she had missed. “Oh!”

“Piper!” The dwarf king managed to balance the plate and reached out to grab her arm to steady her as well. “I came to fetch you earlier but you were sleeping, I thought you might need the rest. But I brought you something to eat.” He handed her the plate. “And I came to apologize for this morning.”

“It’s alright, we weren’t really in a private room.” Piper assured him with a smile. “Thank you, though, for caring. And bringing food!” She brought the plate in and set it on her little desk beside her laptop. “Thorin, I want to ask you something.”

The dwarf stopped and waited at the door. “Yes?”

Piper went to the door, peered out and then dragged him in, shushing his objections over her actions. And where no one could overhear, or so she thought, she drew her friend into her plan. 

Nori stood by the door, grinning as he listened. Oh this would be great! With a smug grin he took off to find his brother after he heard their king agree to Piper’s plot. 

Piper and Thorin emerged and he went to find Balin while she went after Bombur, who was in the kitchen of course. From the window she passed in the hall, she spotted Bofur out with a few other dwarves and Bilbo, at the little patio table they went to when they wanted to smoke their pipes, all respecting her wish to keep her house free from the smoke. She had let them early on, but it was easy to see she didn’t care for it, and they had all willingly taken to smoking outside. Finding the elder Ur brother, Piper was quick and straight to the point when she spoke to him. Bombur was delighted by her plan, so much so he began to sob. He had a dish cloth to dab his eyes and gave Piper many crushing hugs. When she and her ribs escaped finally, she was caught by Dori, and an amused looking Nori who only shrugged off her glare, as she was dragged back to her room to let the finicky dwarf have a look at her wardrobe. 

She left him at it and went to fetch her son, taking him to a quiet corner of the house, and sitting him down for a talk. 

Riordan sat on his mother’s lap, leaning against her shoulder. He didn’t like all the mushy hugs but he knew if he didn’t give in, she would pester him with over-the-top affection until he relented. It always ended in laughs and giggles and usually he was alright with that, but even the four year old could see there was something serious about this talk. 

“Rio, you know that they’re only staying for a little while, right?”

“Yeah… they have to go back home and save Er’bor from a dragon.” Riordan nodded, “and orcs. What are orcs?”

“Big monster men.” Piper summarized. “But that’s not what we’re here about,” she knew she had to nip that in the bud, her brave little adventure boy would let his imagination run away with him. “I wanna talk to you about Bofur.”

“He’s your boyfriend! I like him, he tells good stories and he listens to mine.” The boy grinned, kicking his feet as they dangled off his mother’s legs. “Can he stay? When they go, can he stay here?”

“No, half-pint, he can’t. That’s why I wanted to ask, if Bo and mommy had a sort of… I mean if we made promises, would it be okay if I didn’t find a daddy for you later?” Piper thought it would be easy to say, but she felt her heart pounding and her throat constricting. She wanted to keep her promise to Bofur, but she also wanted to do her best for her child. 

“I wish he was my daddy.” Riordan sighed. “I like having you and me. We’re best friends, right mommy?” 

“Of course, buddy.” Piper kisses the top of his head and pulled him close for a quick hug. “Always, you and me.”

“But he can’t stay, so he can’t be my daddy, right?” The boy sounded nearly broken-hearted. 

“If… if you loved him like your father, that would be okay.” Piper smiled, “he loves you.”

“He loves you a lot!” With a grin Riordan began to make kissing faces and giggled when his mother tickled his sides. 

Laughing at her silly son, Piper pulled him in for another quick and fierce hug. “He does, and I love him.”

“Okay.” Riordan let her hug him, though he whined after a few seconds. “Ick, squishy!” Wriggling free of the embrace he looked up into his mother’s face. “So, you’re gonna love him, and he’s gonna be my daddy? Even if he goes away?”

Tears pricked at Piper’s eyes as she looked at her son. Sometimes he was so grown up that it shocked her, and she was so proud of him. She swallowed thickly, nodding at the boy since she couldn’t find the words. 

“Okay. Can I go play now?”

“Yeah, sure.” Dropping another kiss on the boy’s head, Piper smiled as she watched him run off. 

Nori appeared around the doorway a few seconds later. “He’s a good boy. You’ve raised him well.”

Wiping her eyes, the woman smiled at the starfish haired dwarf. “Thanks. I’m proud of him. I’m always afraid I’m going to mess things up but… he’s done well.” She clapped her hands down on her thighs, “right! Things to do!” Rising and smiling at Nori, she asked, “Is your brother done?”

“Yep. Came to fetch you.” And he then took her hand and pulled her away to be thrown to Dori’s whims.

Piper was surprised to see Thorin in her room, as well as Dori, when they arrived. “Hey, everything going alright?”

The dark haired dwarf nodded and smiled warmly, then said something in his own tongue and the other two slipped out. “Piper, I know it’s customary to have a family member present. And, I wanted to ask… if you would let me, I mean if you wished it, I would—!”

He was cut off when she yanked him into a tight hug. “I’d rather have it no other way!”

Thorin smiled and wrapped his arms around her in return. “Then come here.” He pulled her to the chair by her desk. “I want to give you something, I’ve already discussed this with the boys. Fíli even had a spare bead.” Because a time or two Kíli had lost his or broken it.

“Bead?”

Standing in front of her, Thorin assumed a formal pose. “Piper Morgan, as the head of the Longbeard clan, heir to the throne of Erebor, I extend my request to include you within my own family.” And he opened his hand to show a wide silver bead with the crest of his clan on it. “Would you accept to be a sister of mine?”

Piper, dumbfounded, stared for a moment at the bead, processing what he said. She caught movement as he shifted his weight nervously, afraid her silence meant she wasn’t in agreement. In a swift move she rose and captured the king in an embrace and laughed. “Oh, Thorin!” 

Chuckling, Thorin hugged her back, glad she sounded so happy. “Even were we in our world instead of yours, there are limitations to this. It wouldn’t put you or Rio in line for the throne or anything, but it would make you a noblewoman in our courts. Which means little here…”

“It means a lot, Thorin. It truly does, and not because of status. You’re a great friend and I’m happy that you think of me as family too. You are kinda like the brother I never had.” Piper grinned and hugged him again before he ushered her back into the chair and braided the bead into her hair on the opposite side of Bofur’s, drawing hair over her part line to do so. He bound the silver clasp bead so that it lay against her temple. “Fíli is carving one for Rio, though we will give it to you to keep until he is old enough.” He finished the braid with a pretty looking loop st the end, though it too was short. 

Piper smiled and reached up to gently touch the braid. “So tell me, big brother,” she liked his grin at that. “Do you approve of my One?”

Thorin snorted. “He’s… a good dwarf.” 

“But?”

“I can’t say I know him well, Dwalin knew his family and they came at his request on my behalf. But he seems like a good fellow. And it is clear that you are his One, and he yours. Never in history has anyone hurt their One. Well, not intentionally. My mother did drop a crock on father’s foot once. Broke three toes. He limped for a month.”

Piper giggled. “Your parents, then, were each other’s One?”

“Yes, my father was a prince, my mother worked in the forges. She delivered supplies to his personal forge, and that’s how they met. It was… unusual for a prince to take a wife that wasn’t a noble, but no one questions Mahal’s choices when it comes to Ones. Not even my grandfather.”

The two smiled and talked until Dori knocked and he slipped in to get Piper dressed in what he deemed appropriate. She had a nice dinner dress that would suit the purpose, and Dori had her put it on, and watched as she applied her makeup. 

“Oh you females and your face paint.” He chuckled, but had to agree she had managed to highlight her best features and compliment the dress. “Beautiful, lass.” He eyed the two beads. Thorin has beat him and Nori to the punch. Nori has said he wanted to stand in for her family, but Dori had hushed him as he knew Thorin felt the same. “Come how, he’s being distracted, we should hurry.”

Piper followed him down, and spotted Ori getting Riordan’s Easter jacket on him, through a string of whining complaints from the boy. “Rio!” She hissed reprimandingly. 

Ori looked up and saw her and he smiled, amazed. His eyes were bright and joyful. He had to get his sketchbook! Rushing the boy into his clothes he dashed off. 

In a blur of a whirlwind, Piper found herself standing beneath a wooden arbor, made of branches and twine from her garage, and what she assumed was every wildflower that grew on her property, and many of the surviving roses from her mother’s old garden. 

Bilbo was overseeing Kíli who was putting the last few in place, being one of the tallest. He was still standing on a couple of cement bricks from the garden. They were hastily stashed away when he finished. The hobbit looked over and shook his head, “No no! She’s not a dwarf! She walks up to him!”

And so Thorin, Fíli and Kíli, towed her away again. 

Bofur walked into the scene minutes later, half pushed by his cousin. “Wha’ are ye goin’ on ‘bout, yer actin’ stran—!” He cut off with a strangled sort of gasp. “By my beard… what?”

Thorin strode forward from behind the garden shed. “You have a place to be, Bofur Broadbeam.” He pointed to the arbor. Balin was standing on the far side of the quickly erected structure. “Go.” And he turned and walked away. 

Bofur eyed everyone gathered around and he stepped up to where he was told to be. “What in the world is—…” The dwarves around him began to hum, starting low and soon sounding joyous, the music growing in pace and becoming a beautiful harmony. He knew the song.

And then Thorin reappeared, with Piper at his side, Fíli and Kíli behind them, walking Riordan between them. 

Bofur raised his hand and took off his hat, clutching it at his side. He felt a hand on it and let Bombur take it. Trying to smooth his hair, beard, and clothes into something presentable, he promised to give the others an earful for springing this on him. But he couldn’t tear his gaze away from Piper. She was lovely. And his heart rushed up into his throat, his head spinning a thousand thoughts jumbled together. He should have asked her. He should have courted her properly. She was so beautiful! And smiling, at him! And look at Riordan, such a charming little man all dressed up! Was that a new bead in her hair!? Bofur could only stare, slack jawed in wonder, as Piper came to stand before him. 

“Today we are joining two who Mahal has destined to be One.” Balin proclaimed, having rehearsed this for the last hour, for he had only done it in Khuzdul before, though it was heavily modified for this day. “These two halves of the same stone come together again. Piper, do you promise to cherish your One, and to carry his love forever, and to provide yours to him, for all your days?”

“I do.” Piper smiled shyly, trying hard not to be nervous. 

Bofur reached out, her words echoing in his head. She does. He realized that Balin had spoke again, asking the same promise from him. He wanted to say something elegant, to tell her how no other could make his heart theirs, that he would forever belong to her and that his joy would come from her for the rest of his days. But he managed to croak an excited “I do.” And knew instantly she had felt the same, he could see the promise in her gaze. 

“Then let it be known that Mahal’s will is completed today! These two halves are One!” And he tied a long silk scarf, that Dori had found in Piper’s closet, around their joined hands. “I present to you, husband and wife!”

The dwarves let out a loud shout in their language, and then cheered. Riordan was clapping and bouncing up and down between the Durin brothers. Bilbo seemed a little misty eyed, for he always cried at weddings, not that he would admit it, even the impromptu ones. 

Bofur leaned near Piper. “No’ that I object, but how did this all happen?”

Chuckling, Piper replied, “I mentioned it would be a nice thing, but then they all took over.”

Bofur had a brief moment to look at her with wide eyes, his smile so bright it wa dazzling, before they were swarmed by their friends and family. 

Riordan squished his way through, and launched into Bofur’s arms. “You’re my dad now!”

Catching the boy, Bofur nodded, his eyes watering and he pulled the child into a tight hug. “Aye, lad. I am.” And how he wished he would see the boy grow! “I couldna be more proud t’ have a son like ye.”

Piper, who was getting hugs from the Ri brothers, heard them and smiled. This was perfect. She held Nori a little longer and whispered something into his ear. He drew back with sparkling eyes, and a glint of mischief. She got a subtle nod from him and he was off. After that things were a bit of a blur of hugs and happy wishes. Then she finally found herself beside Bofur, who was still carrying an excited Riordan. 

And she smiled at Bofur. Her husband. 

And he smiled at her. His wife.


	9. Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here

Bilbo and the remaining dwarves looked after Riordan, as Piper and Bofur slipped away to spend a few days in the guest cabin on the far end of Piper’s property. She hadn’t used it much herself since inheriting the land, but kept it clean as her cousin had a habit of dropping in from time to time. Those days passed in a passionate bliss filled dream, and the happy couple enjoyed it to the fullest. 

When they did finally return one evening, to sly grins and a few teasing comments, they were both exhausted. Bofur slept in her bed that night, and they slept soundly, for the first time in days. Nestled against one another and utterly peaceful. Morning came too soon, in the form of an eagerly excited Riordan sneaking in and bouncing his way into the bed. 

“Momma! Momma! Bofur! It’s morning wake up!”

“Mmm…” Piper squinted at her son and sighed. Elbowing her husband, she grunted, “Bo, he’s right.”

Bofur stretched his arms wide, yawning loudly. Then in a quick move he sat up, snagged the boy and dragged him down, tickling the child’s ribs. “Is tha’ so!?” 

Riordan laughed and shrieked, squealing and flailing. “Aaaaaahhhhh!”

Watching them for a moment, Piper soon joined in, knowing the best spots under the little boy’s ears, that always made him laugh the loudest. After a few more seconds they let the boy go, Piper sweeping him into a hug, dropping a kiss on his head. “No sleeping in around this one.”

“I noticed,” Bofur chuckled, quite pleased by waking up to his new happy family. “Wild sort, ain’t he? Get’s tha’ from his Ma, I’d say.” His dark eyes twinkled with amusement. “Rio, lad, has Bombur started breakfast?” The amusement was fading, but the spark wasn’t. His gaze stayed upon his lovely wife. 

“Not yet.”

“Why don’t you go wake him?” Piper knew that look in Bofur’s eyes. “Tell him it’s a good day for pancakes.”

“Pancakes!” With a bounce, Riordan shot off the bed and was out the door, nearly slamming it behind him. 

“Bo… everyone is downstairs,” Piper reminded him as he rolled to lean over her. 

“Aye, they are.” His lips captured hers in a long and lingering kiss. They moved then to her neck, where the love bites he had left on her over the last few days were fading, and he held her close as he added a new one. The way she squirmed beneath his heavy form, and the soft mewling she muffled on his bare shoulder, just about drove him mad. But he knew she was right, this time they were not alone. He released her and sat back, running a hand through his hair. It was still loose, save for her braid. “Oh lass, ye loike water t’ a parched dwarf.”

Piper chuckled and got up, slipping her housecoat on. She went to her bathroom, took care of necessity, then grabbed her hair brush and took it back to start brushing out his hair. Her own was barely long enough to need a brush, but she had kept it anyway. Sitting beside him, she started working the tangles free, so very glad she had introduced him to conditioner. “Hey!” She poked his side as she was working, putting his three large braids back in his hair. “Don’t you fall asleep on me!”

“Wha-! I wouldn’t!” Bofur placed a hand over his heart and looked back at her. His smile was slow, lazy, content. Spending these private moments with her was his greatest blessing. He sat still then as she finished with his braids, relaxing under her touch. 

The two joined the rest of the houseful, to slightly cold pancakes, and Piper went out to help with the wood, sorting it out into full cords with the dwarves. It was a little after lunch when they finished, not wanting to stop until they were done. 

Ori came up to her after they had eaten and shyly presented a paper to her. 

Turning it over in her hand she saw a beautifully detailed drawing of her and Bofur as they exchanged their vows. “Oh, Ori!” She smiled so brightly her cheeks hurt, and she set it carefully on the bookshelf before drawing him into a tight hug. “It’s beautiful! Thank you!”

The dwarf smiled and hugged her back, patting her shoulder. “I’m glad you like it.” Not really knowing about photographs, which Piper had been sneaking on her phone quite often, he wanted her to have a picture to remember the day by. “You both look so happy.” He seemed almost wistful in his demeanor and speech, though he tried to mask it, accustomed to his brothers. One would tell him to get his head out of the clouds, and the other would tease him mercilessly. But it was true, the youngest Ri brother was a romantic dreamer at heart. 

Seeing through his thin veneer, Piper smiled, nodding a little as she did for the fact was undeniable. “We are. I’m sure one day you and some lovely sweet lady will be too.”

Ori flitted a shy smile, a little flustered at the thought, his cheeks turning a shade of pink. He knew by her sincere tone she honestly was not teasing him, and he deeply wished and hoped that her words were true. He started to say something else, when he gasped and doubled over suddenly, clutching at his chest and stomach. Everything felt twisted up, in a dreadfully familiar way. “Oh no…”

Piper immediately rushed to his side, setting her hands on his back and shoulder, from where she stood she could see many of the other dwarves and Bilbo in the adjacent room, all having a similar attack. Dread filled her heart, coiling fear in her stomach. “Ori…?”

“It’s… like when we arrived…” He gasped out through the disorientation and dizziness. “Go…! Bofur!”

Without a second thought, Piper dashed away to find her husband, hearing Riordan calling for her from his room. 

“MOOOOM!”

Turning the corner into her son’s room, Piper spotted Bofur hunched over by the toybox, groaning and clutching his head. His hat fell as he sunk his thick fingers through his hair, silently begging the pounding and spinning to stop. He hadn’t drank a drop of alcohol! Then, as he heard Riordan cry out, and Piper’s quick steps coming to them, he recalled what it meant. “...no…” he breathed in heartbroken dismay. “No’ now!” They barely had enough time! What could he do? He was utterly powerless against this magic. Staggering to his feet, he caught Piper as she rushed to him. “It’s passin’, it’s a’right, amrâlimê,” he lied as he held her close, reaching a hand down when he felt the poor frightened Riordan at their side. 

The small reforged family clung together, tears in all of their eyes, though Riordan was upset only because his parents were. He had not yet been able to fully grasp the situation. But his mother and his new father were frightened and it left him unsettled.

Bofur held them as the sensation passed, and some time after, unwilling to accept what it could mean for them. He tried to hide it, but he felt like he was trembling, his newly fulfilled heart on the verge of shattering. With a slightly shaking sigh, he released his family, and looked each in the eyes, before he nodded, “let’s go see what de others say.”

Piper felt too thick of a lump in her throat, and she grasped his hand, only managing a tearful nod in reply. How could she let him go? They had just found each other, it wasn’t enough time! She clung to his hand as they walked, unwilling to let go of him just yet, or ever, if she had her say in it. “I-I’m not ready…” She managed to squeak out, passed the grip of fear around her neck.

Turning to face her, Bofur appeared as heartbroken as she was, but he took a deep breath and schooled his features. With an understanding smile, he nodded softly. “Aye, I know.” Drawing her near, he kissed her, a slow and feathering kiss that grew into a heated and wanting kiss.

“Ew.”

The two broke apart and both looked down at Riordan and chuckled, Bofur ruffling the boy’s hair. After a long look at one another, they ushered the boy along to the others.

The rest of the dwarves and the one hobbit all seemed uncomfortable, uneasy, and anxious. They turned to see the trio walk in, and there was pity in some eyes as they took in the frightened look on Piper’s face, and Bofur’s valiant attempt to mask is own emotions for the sake of his wife and new son. Bombur in particular could see the way the tips of Bofur’s mustache quivered, recognizing the look. He’d seen it when their parents had died, he’d seen it when Bofur had lost his friend. His brother was scared out of his wits, but Bofur always had a smile, always tried to be the light in the darkness. Which is what made Bombur’s heart ache even more. This would kill his brother.

“Everyone felt the pull,” Kíli spoke up, sounding very conflicted, he, like his brother, uncle, and some of the others, wanted to go home. As nice as Piper’s home was, and as kind as it was for her to accept them there in it, it wasn’t their home and it wasn’t getting them closer to Erebor. But even the Durin’s, determined as they were to reclaim their home, did not want to see this new couple, Ones at that, ripped apart from each other. 

Fíli dropped down on one knee and held his arms out, Riordan ran into them, the two had begun to bond since their trip to the mall, and Fíli hated the thought of leaving the boy behind. This was the first time he had ever thought of wanting a child of his own. Thorin had mentioned the idea before, but it was a distant thought, until now. He held the boy in a tight embrace, trying not to let the others see how much he would miss the child. When he looked up he saw a gentle smile on Piper’s face. 

“Fíli, can I talk to you for a second?” Piper motioned for him to follow her to the side of the room while Bofur directed Riordan over while he started talking with his kin. Standing aside from the others, Piper watched as Fíli looked over at the boy for a moment. “Fíli, you’re really great with Riordan, and he seems really fond of you. I know it won’t mean much in the future, with you guys leaving and all, but… I never really had anyone who I really trusted at the time I had Rio, but… I mean if you’re okay with it, would you be willing to be his godfather? I talked it over with Bo, and-”

“Yes!” Fíli cut in before she finished. He wasn’t sure, but he felt like there was a strange connection with him and the boy. Not, of course, like they were Ones, that wouldn’t be possible for a number of reasons, but he hated to leave Riordan and Piper behind, as inexplicable as it was. All of that aside, to be asked such a thing was a great honor, and he felt his chest swell with pride. “I would greatly love to be named such, and no matter where we go, I will keep him and you in my heart, as a distant part of my family.” 

Piper grinned and pulled Fíli into a sudden hug, laughing a little. “Thank you. I know he’ll love having that connection, especially when he remembers everything that happened. He’s very fond of you.” She turned to look at Riordan, he was blissfully unaware of the concern that was being spoken of among the adults, standing between Bofur and Kíli, and falling against one and then the other as they indulgently pushed him back and forth as he giggled. His concerns from earlier were, for the moment, forgotten, which was a relief to his mother. “He’s a good kid, but this is going to be hard on him, he’s needed more family, and we just found it only to lose it again, it’s not fair for him.”

“Or you,” Fíli added, blue eyes watching her skeptically. His uncle had said that Piper reminded him of his mother when she was younger, before his father had died. Sometimes he could see why, she had a fierce sort of love, and a big heart, as he knew his mother did. She would love to hear about Piper and Riordan once he saw her again. He thought it a pity that they wouldn’t get a chance to meet. But fate was fickle, and as much as he hated it, he could only accept it for what it was. There was little he could do to change anything regarding this whole situation, aside from leaving Piper and Riordan with the happy thought that somewhere out there, was a group of people who cared about them. Even if their paths wouldn’t cross again. And he knew she would be heartbroken when they left, for her love for her husband was already strong, that much was clear. He didn’t pity them, but he felt his heart aching in sympathy and understanding. “But it’s best not to linger on the sad thoughts, we are here yet, and there is time still to be happy.”

“Well said, nephew.” Thorin had approached behind them, and chuckled when they jumped slightly at his voice. He hadn’t intended to startle them, but it was amusing nonetheless. “We have been discussing it since we first felt that pull. It is the opinion of most that it means we are due to return soon. As dire as those tidings are to you, Piper, I confess I am eager to return to our quest. Though we have not lost time due to our presence here, it is still a delay.”

Piper nodded, “I understand, your quest is important and you need to stay focused, the whole lot of you do.” She looked at Fíli for a moment then to Thorin, “I asked Fíli if he would accept being Rio’s godfather.” 

Thorin’s brows rose, and he looked at his nephew curiously. He could see the beaming smile on the blond dwarf’s face and he knew Fíli had gladly accepted. “Good. Though perhaps it is best if we do not stay here too long, I’m certain these two boys have instigated enough trouble in Rio’s mind as it is.”

The woman snorted and grinned, “Like he really needed any help with that to begin with…” Rolling her eyes a little, she watched her son, who was now climbing on Dwalin’s arm, the burly warrior lifting the boy off the ground with ease. “If he was any taller Dwalin would have a lot more trouble with that.” The three laughed quietly.

The mood in the room gradually eased as everyone began to relax, though most of the dwarves had their things packed up a little better, Bombur accepting many gifts of spices and whatnot from Piper as he readied his things in case their time to leave came upon them quickly. The woman found a frame from an old vacation picture of her, and replaced the image with the drawing Ori had given her, and she hung it in her living room, standing on a chair while Thorin and Bofur both hovered nearby in case she fell. 

Everything that followed, for it was another day yet until anything happened of interest, was somber and somewhat bittersweet, each dwarf and the hobbit taking a little time to sit and talk with Piper, to say a farewell and simply have a peaceful moment with their host. Riordan clung to either the Durin brothers or the family Ur, and of course his favorite jungle gym, Dwalin. He had a vague idea that their guests would be leaving soon, and he didn’t quite understand that they would not be coming back. None of the company had the heart to explain, and Piper assured them she would later, though she was loathe to do so until she had to, as much it would be necessary she wanted to spare her son the heartache. She took solace in Balin’s advice.

“The lad is young, and his heart will mend fast. Take peace that, though he may be hurt, we will become a cherished memory for him, with any luck.” He patted her arm with a gentle kindness before he ambled over to his kin. 

As night fell, Piper and Bofur, after tucking in a very unwilling Riordan, secluded themselves in her bedroom. Piper curled up on her bed after dressing in soft clothes, and watched as Bofur pulled on the long shirt she had got him and the sweat pants. He bundled his things together, rather than leaving them laying on the armchair as he had before. She knew he was simply being prepared, but it still made her chest constrict as saw it. “I know it’s selfish, but I don’t want you to go.” She finally said as he crawled into bed beside her.

“‘Tis anything but selfish, Piper.” He pulled her into his arms, laying her head on his chest and softly stroking her hair. “Anything but tha’.” Closing his eyes, he felt a tear track down from one, disappearing into his hairline. He wanted to stay, but he knew he couldn’t. There was no way he could. 

“I don’t want any of you to leave, it feels like having a family again.” Piper whimpered. Aside from some distant relatives she didn’t know, but only knew of, the only family she had was her cousin. Granted they had grown up close, and had been the best of friends, life had taken them down different paths. She loved her cousin’s visits, but they were few and far between anymore. “I hate being alone.” 

Bofur wanted to say something, anything, that could ease her pain, but nothing he could think of would do that, and his throat felt so closed up, he wasn’t sure he could get the air in him to speak in the first place. After a while of holding her, he realized she had fallen asleep on him. He listened to her slow breathing, and carefully reached over to turn the bedside lamp on, the way she had shown him. Hours passed, and he lay, cradling her against him and memorizing her face. Everything about her was perfect, inside and out. He could think nothing of a life without her now. As he had told Nori, he would see this quest through, his honor dictated he must stay true to his word. But he would go then, and not tell Thorin, to see the elves. Not Thranduil, nor his ilk, but the elves of Lothlórien. Surely the witch queen would know of some way to cross back here. She must.

By dawn, Piper woke, and sleepily groped across the bed for Bofur’s warmth, in such a short period she had still become accustomed to it. But her searching hand found nothing, and she jolted awake, sitting straight up and staring in horror at the empty bed beside her. He was gone! Gone! A strangled noise crawled from her throat, and she swallowed back a sob of despair. “Bofur!”

Behind her from the bathroom there was a shuffling and a thud, and a curse in the throaty language of the dwarves. With his pants still at his ankles, and the sound of the toilet flushing behind him, Bofur stumbled out. “Piper! I’m sorry! I meant t’ be back in bed before ye woke, but I had t’ piss so bad, I couldn’t hold it anymore!”

Looking wide eyed at him, his shirt askew, his pants crumbled on the floor and his hair standing up, one braid sticking out at an odd angle, his mustache unbrushed, he looked an absolute mess, and Piper began to giggle. She couldn’t help herself. Her giggles grew into a laugh, and she fell back on the mattress. “Oh, Bo! My dear, sweet, silly, Bo.”

He kicked his pants off and walked over, chuckling. As he passed her dressing mirror he saw his reflection and knew then what had set her off into laughter. He did look frightful. Climbing onto the bed, he leaned over her and kissed her softly, turning his head just slightly back and forth so that his mustache trailed down and tickled her neck, bringing more giggles from her until she dragged him down for a searing kiss. He swept her into his arms and pressed himself against her, other things beginning to stir demandingly.

They came out some time after breakfast was eaten and cleaned up, and a smug Bombur winked as he motioned to two covered plates. “Rio’s outside wit’ de lads,” The large dwarf told his brother and sister-in-law as they ate. “Ye two are anything but quiet.” 

Bofur grinned broadly at that, rather proud of himself if he was to be honest. And the embarrassed and shy look on Piper was rather cute. “Eh, couffn’ ‘ep it.” He said around a mouthful. 

Piper stood up, having finished her smaller portion, the amount the dwarves ate was still shocking, and looked out of the window to watch her son playing catch with his soccer ball, with Fili and Kili. They seemed to be having a good time, and she was glad. Then the game stopped as both brothers winced and seemed to stagger. Piper spun to look at the two dwarves in the room with her, and both were acting quite the same. It didn’t pass as it had last time, and she could hear the others rushing to grab their things. Bombur, for his size, was quite spry and he bound of to grab his bag. “No… no no no.”

Bofur turned to Piper, his expression guilt wracked and sorrowful. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry. Amrâlimê… I, it… it’s time.” Tears were streaming down his face, and he reached out for her as she ran around the table. Barely moments before she reached him, in a brief flash of light, he was gone.

Outside, Riordan stared at the spot Fili had been standing, the ball rolling away from the empty spot. 

“MOMMA!” He screamed, and turned to run into the house.

Piper struggled to her feet from where she had sunk into a sobbing heap, and met the boy at the door as he ran in. She held him to her, trying to comfort his crying through her own heartbroken sobs.


	10. The End of the Distance

Days bled into weeks, and then into months, and a year had passed before Piper knew it. Riordan was starting pre-school, and she had sold all of the wood that had been cut. The house showed little sign of her visitors, little change from what had been. Aside from the drawing still in it’s frame, and more pictures she had taken with her phone had been printed and now hung in her own room. It was too hard to try to explain to guests, so she hadn’t bothered to hang them in the living room or anywhere else. 

“Rio, you behave now!” Piper waved as he went off for his weekend with her cousin. He loved to play with all the dogs and her cousin was teaching him to ride horses, which also meant shoveling out stall and carrying feed, all in all it was good work for the boy who had little to do around her place, and felt listless since the dwarves had left, and Piper had fallen into a depression. She tried to keep up a good front for the boy, but it was getting harder. A part of her that she hadn’t even known had been missing was suddenly ripped away, and she had no way to bandage that wound. She couldn’t even talk to anyone about it. 

After he left, she finished up some work around the house, laundry, cleaning, and whatnot, she curled up with a glass of whiskey, and picked up her copy of The Hobbit again. Bofur barely garnered much attention in the book, and yet… she kept reading it over and over. Thorin... Fili… Kili… she knew their fate. It made her sick to think about, and she usually stopped reading before the end. Opening it to where she had been, she stared at the words on the page, not really seeing them. She knew them all by heart now. And she hated them, yet clung to them. She had tried watching the film, but it left her sick to her stomach and heartbroken all over again. 

She closed the book and sat back, closing her eyes and drinking deeply. So many times, over and over, she wished she could do something, anything, to get back to him, to get him back. Anything. Tears, once again, trailed down her cheeks, as they had so many times before. Her glass emptied, she simply flopped over on the couch and lay, staring at the drawing of the two of them. They both looked so happy. 

As she lay there, she recalled the last year. Once at the hardware store while getting parts to replace her leaking sink, she had thought she had seen him, but it had only been someone wearing a shirt like the one he had worn there, with an abundance of brown hair. Then she thought she heard him once, at the mall with Riordan, but that too had not been him. Just a loud sort of fellow who was having a good time with his girlfriend. All of the happy couples she saw left her feeling jealous, and when she heard that a friend of hers from college was getting married, Piper had broken down into sobs after the phone call ended. No, the last year had been unkind to her. But, she told herself, it was nothing like what he had gone home to face.

Eventually she fell asleep, too tired and depressed to do much else then, until her stomach woke her up with gnawing hunger. That she debated dealing with, she had already lost weight since her depression had set in. Riordan had kept her going, she had no doubt of that, the boy had been sad, and he had his own moments, but at his age he was recovering quickly, and now he had school and new friends to keep him occupied. Her cousin, not knowing what had transpired, kept telling her she needed to get out, go meet people, make friends. It was insinuated she should meet a man as well, but she couldn’t tell anyone that was off the table. Gently running her finger over the bead in her hair, she sighed. He wouldn’t want her to be like this, he would want her to be happy, to take care of herself and Riordan. So she pushed herself up off the couch and managed to make something to eat, a simple sandwich, but it was food. And she swiped one of the cheese sticks from the fridge shelf with Riordan’s snacks. 

After she ate, she sat down again and flipped the television on, simply as background noise. The silent house just drove home how empty she felt. It was a sitcom she had watched since she was a child and she gradually began to smile as she watched it, though her smile never reached her eyes. Four widows, all going on with their lives and living fully. Well, Piper wasn’t a widow, but she did need to live. For Riordan, and Bofur’s memory.

With a little more energy now, she went out to tend the small garden she kept beside her house. She was elbows deep in weeding, when she heard someone walking around. Riordan was gone, and no one else would be out that far, she wasn’t expecting company. After a moment she realized she recognized the sound, and she moved slowly. It was the distinct steps of a deer, they passed through her land on occasion.Carefully creeping by the bean patch, she spotted it, walking across the driveway and the little yard. Her jaw dropped as she watched it, the sun through the leaves of the trees dappling it’s coat. It was a white deer. Pure white! It came to a stop in a patch of sun, it’s coat reflecting the light and seeming to make the deer glow. The sight stole her breath away as she looked at it, and she didn’t realize that there were tears on her cheeks again, so touched by the scene of such a rare creature. 

As she watched the deer, it began to pick it’s way closer to her garden, which usually would warrant shooing it away, but she was too enraptured to do anything but breathe. Soon the deer was barely feet away from her, she could see her own reflection in it’s eyes, and that’s when she noticed that it was looking right at her. Her hands brushed against the herbs she grew and she slowly plucked a stalk of basil and cautiously held it out, careful not to spook the magnificent creature. 

The deer stepped forward, nibbling the ends of the leaves. After a moment or two, it finally pulled the stalk from her hands and ate the entirety. It stared at her again, and lifted it’s head, exhaling over her face, it’s breath smelled of mulch and basil. Then it turned and began to walk away. Piper seemed like a statue, staring blankly on a head of her, soon though she blinked and took a few steps to watch it leave, but it was nowhere in sight. A chill ran up her spine and she shivered. “So weird…” Shaking her head she bent down to continue her weeding. 

After a while, as she was nearly done weeding her garden and repotting a few of the plants in containers, she heard steps again, and her head jerked up, thinking the strange deer had returned, but what she saw walking down the drive made her heart stop.

Was it true? Was it real? Was she hallucinating? Piper really felt she had finally lost her mind, until their eyes met and she was graced with a smile.”B… B…. BOFUR!” Leaping up, she knocked over a pot, and dropped her garden shovel, leaping the low fence she raced up the driveway. Her sun hat fell off as she ran, and soon she was in strong and familiar arms. “Bofur! It’s you! It’s really you!” She clung to him as he pulled her in for a kiss, which lasted a long while. “How?” She gasped, still clutching him, almost as though she was afraid he would turn to nothing upon the wind.

When they parted, he smiled at her, his dark eyes dancing merrily. “I fulfilled me duty t’ Thorin, and one night, in a dream, Mahal came to me.” He explained, holding her close as well. “I was given a second chance to be wit’ ye. I’m here to stay.” 

Piper laughed and threw her arms around his shoulders, that’s when she realized something was different, and her back was grateful. “Bofur… you’re… you’re taller!”

“Aye, an’ human. T’was de only way I could come to remain with ye.” Bofur chuckled, “Don’t worry, everything else is the same.” He winked at her, and kissed her face. 

“You’re home… you’ve come home.”

“Aye, lass. I have.” Bofur assured her, and he swept her up into his arms, carrying her back into the house. “Where’s Riordan?”

“At my cousin’s.” Piper answered as they walked through the door.

Bofur’s smile widened, his eyes darkening. “Perfect…” As much as he wanted to see the boy too, he had things he needed to tend to, and first and foremost was Piper. And tend to her he did, they even eventually made it to the bed, along with most anywhere else in the house, for the rest of the afternoon until they were a tired heap, all tangled together. 

“But…” Piper spoke up as they lay, cuddling and stroking one another’s skin softly, with tender affection. “How will you get by, there’s no documentation, you don’t have an ID or a social security number…” Certainly she made enough to sustain all of them, but if he needed healthcare, or anything… what would they do?

“Ah, that was provided when I go’ here.” Bofur replied, smiling. “Ye have t’ show me what it all means, but I was given a packet o’ papers tha’ Mahal declared would help.” He pointed to his clothes, and the bag he’d had with him upon arrival. 

Curious, Piper slipped out of the bed, and on wobbly legs, fetched his bag and the papers, looking through them. “Health insurance…. State ID… social…. It’s all here!” She gasped as she saw a marriage certificate, with both their names. Bofur and Piper Broadbeam, there was even completed adoption paperwork for Riordan. “I’ve… been putting my name down wrong for a year now!” She laughed, setting the papers aside she jumped back into the bed and kissed him. 

“Aye, no doubt. An’ we missed our anniversary.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “S’pose I should make it up to ye somehow, eh?” With a sly grin he pulled her down and began kissing her, ready for another round. Becoming human hadn’t affected his dwarvish stamina at all. The couple didn’t leave the bedroom for long at all that day, only when other needs pushed them to it, and then it was quite reluctant.

When Riordan came home, there was a grand reunion. Taking one look at Bofur, he ran into the dwarf-turned-human’s arms, and bawled, too overwhelmed to do anything else. “You’re home, you’re home… you came baaaaaack!” The boy wailed, clinging to his father.

“Aye, lad… aye.” Bofur could barely get that much out, past the thick lump in his throat. It felt so good to have the boy in his arms again, he already felt like the child’s father, and it had broken his heart to imagine missing Riordan growing up. And he wanted to grow old beside his one true love, to hold her hand throughout their lives. Now, that desire was granted. He missed his brother and cousin already, but Bombur had his new wife, and Bifur was in better sorts with the axe out of his head. He already had his shop set up once more. And each had their share of treasure to sustain them. Bofur had given his share to his brother, and made him promise to think of him when it came time to name the kids. Now, he had his own life to think of, though, a life with Piper and Riordan. 

After he and the boy finally let go of one another, Riordan had to go in and start on his chores, with as much reluctance as the little one could muster, Bofur and Piper strolled aimlessly together. “Piper… how long do ye ‘ave t’ stop takin’ that medicine before we could…?” He floundered a little and shrugged.

“I stopped it a while back, I didn’t see the point in staying on it if I wasn’t going to be keeping company with anyone else.” Piper admitted, a little smile on her lips.

“So…” Bofur’s eyes widened, “Any toime then?”

“Mhm…!”

Picking her up, Bofur swung her around. “Lass, ye have t’ help me foind work, so we can have a roight proper family, an’ siblin’s fer Rio.”

Laughing as she was swung about, Piper kissed him, taking his face in her hands, and stealing away both of their breaths. When she drew back she nodded, “Alright. We’ll start looking for a job for you. Soon.”

“Well, yes, soon, but… no’ roight yet.” Bofur agreed, his eyes sparkling with lusty mischief. “We have more catchin’ up t’ do first.” He drew her near, his heavy hands gentle as he held her body close to his own. While he hadn’t minded her being taller before, it was certainly nice to be near the same height now. Slowly he kissed her, gentle and tender, pouring his love into it. He felt her lean against him, and he held her weight up as her knees gave, her arms around his neck. That he affected her as much as she did him was amazing to him, and made him want to always be able to do this. 

The two parted to walk back to the house, hand in hand, their family finally all home to stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes folks! This is the end! However I am participating in the May writing challenge. Daily writing prompts for short stories. These will all be stories to follow this, slice of life episodes and such. So you will see more Bofur, Piper, and Rio! Foxrun-Fluffery on tumblr is where they will be posted, and possibly here as well. 
> 
> Thank you for reading. I know it wasn't a long story (Or a long final chapter), but it was never intended to be. No there won't be a sequel outside of the shorts to follow this up. 
> 
> I appreciate all of my readers and fans! Thank you!


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